Get Your Truck Ready for Brake Safety Week
Are you ready for Brake Safety Week? Starting August 21st, vehicle inspectors throughout North America will conduct thousands of brake inspections on semi trucks and other commercial vehicles for this week-long, annual event. A project of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), more than 3.4 million brake inspections have been completed since this safety event began in 1998.
Violations related to brakes are responsible for a significant percentage of the out-of-service (OOS) vehicle violations cited during roadside inspections. During last year’s International Roadcheck – CVSA’s other major safety inspection event – brake systems and brake adjustment violations accounted for almost 40% of all OOS violations. And, in the almost 36,000 inspections conducted during last year’s Brake Safety Week, about 4,300 vehicles were taken off the road for violations. These numbers are much too high for a problem that is both preventable and that can have deadly consequences.
This year’s event will focus on brake hose and tubing chafing violations. To help drivers and fleet managers properly inspect and maintain these components, CVSA has published the following 10 Brake Hose and Tubing Tips:
- Inspect brake hoses and tubing as part of your pre-trip and post-trip inspections.
- Report any issues in your driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR).
- Look for brake hoses that are making contact with steering, suspension, brake or other components, or the tires or frame.
- Listen for air leaks, identify the location of the leak, and make the necessary repairs before leaving.
- Brake hoses should not be kinked or improperly repaired.
- Air lines should not hang down and touch the tractor deck or frame.
- When you find air hoses or tubing making contact with other components, check for abrasion wear, and protect, secure or move the hose to prevent wear.
- If a hose or tubing is chafing and has caused a reduction in diameter or, on thermoplastic hoses, the secondary white color is visible, a violation exists.
- If a hose is worn so that the reinforcement ply is cut or abraded, this is an out-of-service condition and should be replaced immediately.
- Make sure all repairs are consistent with manufacturer’s requirements and guidelines.
