Truck and bus safety enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada will conduct 16 hours of brake safety roadside inspections on Sept. 5 as part of Operation Air Brake.

While brake-related defects continue to be the most frequent commercial vehicle equipment violation, inspection results show improvements in safety compliance, according to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). More than 10,000 vehicles were inspected in the May 2000 Operation Air Brake, with 18.5 percent placed out of service for brake violations. In May 2001, about 13,000 vehicles were inspected, with 16 percent placed out of service for brake violations.

Although there's no overwhelming evidence of correlation between brake defects and their contribution to crashes, there is sufficient data to show that reducing brake defect occurrences will improve vehicles' stopping capability, according to CVSA. This, in turn, can have a positive effect on the crash rate for commercial vehicles.

The campaign, sponsored by CVSA and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, are conducted several days each year to reduce the number of brake-related violations.