During this year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Brake Safety Week, held from August 25-31, law enforcement officials across North America placed 2,149 commercial motor vehicles out of service due to brake-related violations. This represents 12.8% of the 16,725 commercial vehicles inspected during the annual safety campaign. The initiative aims to reduce brake-related crashes by conducting inspections and identifying and removing unsafe commercial motor vehicles from roadways.

According to data released from the CVSA, 14,692 inspections were administered in the U.S., resulting in 1,900 vehicles (12.9%) being removed from the road for brake-related violations. In Mexico, 6, or 5.6%, of the 107 commercial motor vehicles inspected were placed out of service for brake-related violations. While in Canada, 1,926 inspections were conducted, and the brake-related out-of-service rate was 12.6% (243).

Commercial motor vehicle inspectors use the CVSA’s North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC) to identify critical vehicle inspection item violations that are concerning enough to warrant removing that vehicle from traveling on roadways until those conditions have been repaired.

During this year’s Brake Safety Week, inspectors also reported 382 lining/pad violations on power (tractor) units and 272 on towed (trailer) units, for a total of 654 brake lining/pad violations. The focus area for the 2024 event was on lining/pad violations. Throughout the week, inspectors looked for loose, missing or worn brake lining/pads, as well as cracks, voids, or contamination. A table detailing the reported brake lining/pad violations can be viewed on the CVSA website. 

Next year’s Brake Safety Week is scheduled for August 24-30, 2025.