Brake Safety Week 2023 is upon us. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced August 20 – 26 as the dates for this year’s Brake Safety Week. Commercial motor vehicle safety inspectors prioritize vehicle and driver safety by conducting inspections every day. Checking brake systems is always part of the roadside inspection process, but during Brake Safety Week especially, enforcement officials will be paying extra attention. They will be looking closely at the condition of the brake lining and pad.
Properly functioning brakes are crucial to safe commercial vehicle operation. “The focus of this year’s Brake Safety Week is on the condition of the brake lining and pad,” said CVSA President Maj. Chris Nordloh with the Texas Department of Public Safety. “Brake lining and pad issues may result in vehicle violations and could affect a motor carrier’s safety rating.”
Drivers should always be inspecting their brake systems. The month of August is Brake Safety Awareness month, and throughout the month, the CVSA will be educating drivers, motor carriers, mechanics, and others about brake maintenance and operation. They need drivers to understand how important those parts are to your truck’s mechanical fitness and safety.
According to CSVA, some of the top things inspectors will be looking at are:
- Check for missing, non-functioning, loose or cracked parts.
- Check for contaminated, worn, cracked and missing linings or pads.
- Check for S-cam flipover.
- Listen for audible air leaks around brake components and lines.
- Check that slack adjusters are the same length (from center of S-cam to center of clevis pin) and the air chambers on each axle are the same size.
- Ensure the brake system maintains air pressure between 90-100 psi (620-690 kPa) and measure pushrod travel.
- Inspect for non-manufactured holes (e.g., rust holes, holes created by rubbing or friction, etc.) and broken springs in the spring brake housing section of the parking brake.
- Inspect required brake system warning devices, such as anti-lock braking system (ABS) malfunction lamp(s) and low air-pressure warning devices.
- Inspect the tractor protection system, including the bleedback system on the trailer.
- Ensure the breakaway system is operable on the trailer.
For more information on Brake Safety Week, visit the CVSA website here https://www.cvsa.org/news/2023-bsw/.
At Oakley, we are all about safety and making sure our drivers are happy. Each team member in our Oakley Family plays an essential role in keeping our equipment in tip-top shape, so we can safely keep moving America’s food supply down the road.
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