Truck inspections find overall improvements, brake problems

Jul 16, 2008

A record number of commercial motor vehicle drivers passed an annual national inspection check for Level I safety inspections, according to results from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's Roadcheck 2008.

Thousands of trucks and buses at more than 1,500 locations across North America were inspected June 3-5 as part of a comprehensive roadside inspection by certified inspectors from CVSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Results from the 2008 inspection show:

• 95 percent of drivers inspected passed the safety inspection – a 14.5 percent improvement from 2007.
• 96.2 percent of all drivers were in compliance with hours-of-service rules.
• 97.6 percent of drivers were compliant with hazardous materials regulations.

Meanwhile, results from CVSA's national brake inspection, held in May, revealed brake defects still are a significant problem. According to a CVSA press release, during the "Operation Air Brake" campaign, association inspectors examined 93,751 brakes on 11,908 commercial motor vehicles. Of those:

• 15.8 percent of vehicles were placed out of service for brake-related defects.
• 9.9 percent of vehicles were placed out of service for brake adjustment defects.
• 3.8 percent of vehicles with self-adjusting brake adjusters were placed out of service.

CVSA inspectors warned against manually adjusting self-adjusting brake adjusters, which they say poses a safety threat.