Inspection blitz finds brake defects on 18% of vehicles

OTTAWA (Oct. 4, 2001) — Nearly 18% of vehicles checked during a North America-wide brake inspection blitz last month were removed from service, primarily due to adjustment problems.

Enforcement officials checked brakes on 11,294 trucks and trailers during a 16-hour period on Sept. 5 and placed 2009 vehicles (17.8%) out of service. Seventy-five percent of these out-of-service orders were for brakes out of adjustment.

The blitz was part of “Operation Air Brake,” sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

Of the nearly 93,000 brakes checked, 29,000 were equipped with manual slack adjusters and about 64,000 had automatic slack adjusters. Nine percent of the brakes with manual slack adjusters and 3.7% of the brakes with automatic slack adjusters were placed out of service.

The out-of-service rate for the September 2000 announced event, during which 8912 vehicles were inspected, was 16.7%.

The Sept. 5 event was publicly announced; the next Operation Air Brake event will not be. It will take place sometime this month.