WASHINGTON, DC — Truck and bus drivers from Mexico to Canada, get ready to have your brakes inspected.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will hold the annual Brake Safety Week enforcement campaign from September 7 through September 13.

During the campaign commercial motor vehicle inspectors will conduct brake system inspections, primarily Level IV inspections, on trucks and buses throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico to identify out-of-adjustment brakes and brake-system violations.

In 2013, more than 20,000 vehicles were inspected during Brake Safety Week while CVSA expects more than 30,000 brake inspections during the upcoming event.

Brake inspections conducted during Brake Safety Week include inspection of:

• Brake-system components to identify loose or missing parts;
• Air or hydraulic fluid leaks;
• Worn linings, pads, drums or rotors;
• Other faulty brake-system components;
• Antilock braking systems malfunction indicator lamps.

Inspectors will inspect brake components and measure pushrod stroke when appropriate. Defective or out-of-adjustment brakes will result in the vehicle being placed out of service.

Additional inspections may include some Level I Inspections and, in ten participating jurisdictions, overall vehicle braking efficiency will be tested using performance-based brake testing equipment. These systems include a slow speed roller dynamometer that measure total vehicle weight and total brake force, from which braking efficiency is calculated. 

Brake-related violations make up the largest percentage (almost half) of all out-of-service violations cited during roadside inspections, according to CVSA, an international not-for-profit organization made up of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and trucking industry representatives from across North America.