Brake Safety Campaigns
CVSA’s Operation Airbrake Program will hold two annual brake safety campaigns in 2024:

•The next Brake Safety Week is scheduled for Aug. 25-31, 2024.
•There will be an unannounced one-day brake safety enforcement initiative, which may be held at any time.

During both the announced and unannounced brake safety enforcement campaigns, commercial motor vehicle inspectors conduct brake system inspections (primarily Level IV Inspections) on large trucks and buses throughout North America to identify brake-system violations.
Properly functioning brake systems are crucial to safe commercial motor vehicle operation. Commercial motor vehicle brakes are designed to hold up under tough conditions; however, they must be inspected and maintained carefully and consistently so they operate and perform properly throughout the vehicle’s life.

Brake-related violations comprise the largest percentage of all out-of-service violations cited during roadside inspections. Improperly installed or poorly maintained brake systems can reduce the braking capacity and stopping distance of trucks and buses, which poses a serious risk to driver and public safety.
Outreach and educational efforts by inspectors, participating motor carriers and others in the industry also take place during CVSA’s brake safety campaigns and are integral to the success of the campaign.
Operation Airbrake is a CVSA program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

More than 3.4 million brakes have been inspected since the program’s inception in 1998.

Ten percent – 88 vehicles – of the 894 commercial motor vehicles inspected in Canada were placed out of service for brake-related violations during Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Day on April 19. 

CVSA inspectors inspected 6,829 commercial motor vehicles throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Inspectors found brake-related critical vehicle inspection items on 11.3% of the vehicles inspected, indicating those vehicles were unfit and unsafe for roadways, according to a news release. Inspectors restricted those 773 commercial motor vehicles from travel until the violations were corrected. 

During this one-day unannounced inspection and enforcement campaign, certified commercial motor vehicle inspectors conducted their usual vehicle and driver inspections. They reported brake-related data to CVSA for a one-day snapshot of the state of brake systems on the commercial motor vehicles traveling our roadways every day. 

Top three 

The top three brake-related out-of-service conditions were: 

1. 20% brakes violations: 497 – A vehicle or combination of vehicles is declared out of service when 20% or more of its service brakes have an out-of-service condition resulting in a defective brake, such as a brake out of adjustment, an audible air leak at the chamber, defective linings/pads, a missing brake where brakes are required, etc. 

2. Other brake violations: 368 – Other out-of-service brake violations are worn brake lines, broken brake drums, inoperative tractor protection system, inoperative low air warning device, air leaks, hydraulic fluid leaks, etc. 

3. Steering brake violations: 81 – Automatic standalone out-of-service steering axle brake violations include inoperative brakes, mismatched brake chambers, mismatched slack adjuster length, defective linings, etc. 

In the U.S., inspectors placed 679 (11.5%) of the 5,901 total commercial motor vehicles inspected out of service for brake-related violations. And in Mexico, 34 vehicles were inspected. Six (18%) had brake-related out-of-service violations and were placed out of service. 

6,829 vehicles inspected 

Of the 6,829 commercial motor vehicles inspected, 108 power unit and 87 towed unit lining/pad violations were identified, for a total of 195 combined lining/pad violations. 

In addition, eight of the CVSA member jurisdictions with performance-based brake testers (PBBTs) used those machines on Brake Safety Day to assess the braking performance of commercial motor vehicles. Those participating jurisdictions conducted 92 inspections with PBBTs. There were four failures (4.35%), which meant those four commercial motor vehicles were placed out of service for overall vehicle braking efficiency. 

CVSA’s Operation Airbrake Program holds two annual brake safety campaigns each year – this initiative, which is the one-day unannounced brake safety inspection and enforcement initiative, and Brake Safety Week, which is scheduled for Aug. 20-26. 

Today’s Trucking  May 26, 2023 

Each year, Ontario commercial trucks and buses must complete multiple inspections to ensure that they are meeting Ontario’s high environmental standards and safety requirements. These inspections are important, so we are creating a one-stop approach so that we can reduce burden for individuals and businesses while maintaining strong environmental protections by proposing to combine Ontario’s mandatory emissions and safety inspection requirements into a single inspection for heavy diesel commercial motor vehicles.

Completing both tests at the same time will save these drivers time and money so they can focus on keeping goods moving across Ontario, while maintaining the necessary protections for our environment and safety.

Proposed Transfer of Provisions from the Environmental Protection Act to the Highway Traffic Act

As part of the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is proposing amendments that will transfer responsibility for vehicle emission inspections and enforcement from MECP to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) by repealing Part III of the Environmental Protection Act and transferring the substance of Part III to the Highway Traffic Act.

These amendments, which are currently posted for a 30-day consultation period on the Environmental Registry of Ontario and Ontario’s Regulatory Registry, are proposed to come into effect on July 1, 2021.

Proposed Integrated Vehicle Safety and Emissions Inspection Program

The proposed legislative amendments will form the foundation for the subsequent legislative changes. These changes will enable the consolidation of heavy diesel commercial motor vehicle emissions inspections, commercial vehicle safety inspections and associated enforcement activities to be carried out under the Highway Traffic Act. Under the integrated program, which will be administered by MTO, owners of heavy diesel commercial motor vehicles would be able to get an emissions and safety inspection at the same time and location — one test, with one digital result.

Proposed Legislative Changes

MECP is proposing legislative changes, as part of the Red Tape Reduction Bill, in two areas:

1.       Repealing Part III of the Environmental Protection Act, and

2.    Transferring the substance of Part III to the Highway Traffic Act.

The Environmental Registry of Ontario legislative proposal is open for 30 days. Contact information is listed in the proposal should you have any comments or questions regarding the proposed changes.

See the legislative proposal here: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-0646