Rick Barton, CSP, ARM August 22, 2022 5 min read

CVSA’s Brake Safety Week Scheduled for August 21-27

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently scheduled this year’s Brake Safety Week for August 21-27, 2022. This annual event aims to emphasize the importance of ensuring sufficient brake systems in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). Specifically, the event highlights the role that brake maintenance and efficiency plays in reducing brake-related CMV accidents on the road.

The focus of this year’s event is brake hoses and tubing. During this week-long initiative, certified vehicle inspectors will review CMVs using the CVSA’s North American out-of-service criteria and remove any CMVs with brake-related violations from the roadways. Conducting these inspections, identifying brake-related violations, and placing unsafe CMVs out of service is important because:

  • Over a third (38.9%) of all CMV out-of-service conditions were caused by brake system and adjustment violations during last year’s International Roadcheck inspection and enforcement initiative.
  • The third most cited vehicle-related factor among fatal CMV and passenger vehicle crashes was brake system failures, according to a recent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) report.
  • Brake systems and adjustments were two of the top five out-of-service violations for the International Roadcheck.
  • 5% out of the 28,694 CMVs inspected in the United States were placed out of service for brake-related issues during last year’s Brake Safety Week.

The CVSA consistently schedules Brake Safety Week in August, in conjunction with Brake Safety Awareness Month. The announcement of the event takes place in advance to allow time for motor carriers, commercial drivers, and mechanics to assess and service their vehicles—thus ensuring their CMVs (especially their brake systems) are in safe working condition while out on the roadways.

At the conclusion of Brake Safety Week, inspectors will combine all the data they collected and submit the results to the CVSA. The CVSA will then report its findings later in the year.

For further commercial fleet resources and risk management guidance, contact us today.

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Rick Barton, CSP, ARM

Rick has over 20 years of experience in safety and risk control, working with clients in many industries including Construction, Mining, Trucking, Manufacturing, and Hospitality. He specializes in assessing risk for the clients of Hausmann Group to reduce loss potential. Through safety assessments and loss analysis, Rick develops solutions which include safety management techniques, training, and engineering. Additionally, he has been asked to speak at local and national safety conferences on topics such as "How to Manage Safety on a Jobsite", and "What it takes to be a Safety Leader”. Rick is an Authorized Instructor of OSHA Regulations Construction and General Industry Regulations. He is an active member of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association (WTBA), Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), the Wisconsin chapter of The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), and the Association of General Contractors (AGC). He is also on the Advisory Board of the Safety Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Rick is an avid boater and enjoys sharing time on the water with family and friends. His children are spread across 4 U.S. states and Japan, so he and his wife are often traveling to visit them. He also has attended more than 150 games in the last 15 years to see his beloved Green Bay Packers play.

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