BETHESDA, Md. (Oct. 21, 2004) — The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced that the number of out-of-service vehicles from its 6th annual Operation Air Brake campaign increased slightly from last year.

The CVSA is a organization of North American public safety, law enforcement and private sector safety professionals dedicated to safer highways. Operation Air Brake takes place twice a year — one unannounced event in the spring and one scheduled event in September. The purpose is to bring attention to the importance of keeping commercial vehicle brakes in safe operating condition.

Brake-related defects continue to be the most significant and frequent violations that safety inspectors discover during roadside inspections.

This year, more than 240,000 brakes were inspected. During the announced event in September, there was an increase in the number of vehicles placed out of service over the 2003 event, both for brake adjustment (from 11.0% to 11.4%) and brake component (from 7.5% to 8.8%) violations.

Last year, CVSA reported 11 per-cent of vehicles inspected during the scheduled Operation Air Brake campaign were out-of-service for brake adjustment, 7.5 per cent for brake components, and 16.5 per-cent total out-of-service for brakes. Those numbers were quite lower than a surprise blitz in May 2003 which resulted in 13.2, 8.1, and 18 per cent out-of-service rates for the same categories.

This year’s Operation Air Brake campaign provided drivers and mechanics with demonstrations and educational materials on proper brake operation, how to recognize potential brake problems, and the need for properly maintained brakes. Some of the educational efforts took place at the 10 TravelCenters of America Truck Stops in Ohio, the Husky Truck Stop near Regina, Sask, and the TravelCenters of America Truck Stop near Baltimore.