Hundreds of trucks pulled from service during ‘Operation Airbrake’

Greenbelt, MD – Brake violations caused about 760 commercial trucks to be removed from service as part of an unannounced single-day inspection initiative in May across the United States and Canada, the Commercial Vehicle and Safety Alliance announced July 26.

CVSA-certified inspectors checked 6,128 large trucks and buses on May 4 as part of an annual program dubbed Operation Airbrake. The inspections resulted in 12.4 percent of the vehicles being taken out of service for brake violations and 13.9 percent removed for non-brake-related violations.

Most CMVs were equipped with anti-lock braking systems, as required by their manufacture date, CVSA stated. Of those vehicles, 9.6 percent of air-braked trucks had ABS-related violations, and 9.8 percent of hydraulic-braked trucks had ABS-related violations.

None of the 55 buses and motorcoaches that were inspected, including 52 with ABS, had violations.

Brakes that are improperly installed or poorly maintained create serious safety hazards because they reduce braking capacity and increase the required distance for CMVs to stop.

Even with properly functioning brakes, larger vehicles need more space to come to a complete stop. A loaded tractor-trailer traveling at 55 mph in ideal conditions requires 196 feet to make a complete stop, compared with 133 feet for a passenger vehicle, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration states.