The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently scheduled this year’s Brake Safety Week for Aug. 24-30, 2025. This annual event emphasizes the importance of ensuring sufficient brake systems in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and highlights the critical role that regular inspections, repairs, and maintenance play in reducing potential accidents on the road.
Event Overview
The CVSA consistently schedules Brake Safety Week in August in conjunction with Brake Safety Awareness Month. During this weeklong initiative, certified vehicle inspectors will review CMVs using the CVSA’s North American out-of-service criteria and remove any vehicles with brake-related violations from the roadways until necessary adjustments or repairs have been made. At the end of Brake Safety Week, inspectors will combine all the data they collected and submit the results to the CVSA. The organization will report its findings later in the year.
2024 Results
Here’s a summary of key findings from last year’s event:
- A total of 16,725 CMV inspections occurred across North America during Brake Safety Week in 2024. These inspections left 2,149 vehicles with brake-related out-of-service violations, representing a 12.8% out-of-service rate.
- Most of these inspections (14,692) and associated out-of-service violations (1,900) took place in the United States.
- Over half (56.6%) of the 2,149 CMVs placed out of service failed the CVSA’s defective brakes criterion. This criterion states that a CMV must be placed out of service if 20% or more of the service brakes on the vehicle are deemed defective.
This Year’s Focus
The focus of this year’s event is brake drum and rotor violations. Drum and rotor issues can carry major consequences, causing severe damage to CMVs and making commercial drivers more susceptible to accidents behind the wheel. Furthermore, broken pieces of drums and rotors can sometimes become dislodged from CMVs en route, possibly harming nearby motorists and pedestrians and resulting in devastating injuries and fatalities.
How to Prepare
Trucking employers can prepare for Brake Safety Week by ensuring their fleets are in good condition and requiring commercial drivers to inspect CMVs before and after each trip for potential brake problems. As it pertains to drum and rotor issues, key items to watch for include:
- Broken pieces in the friction surface of the rotor
- Cracks that extend to the outer portion of the drum
- Excess wear and tear on the rotor that exposes the center vents
- Heavy rust or grooving on the rotor
Trucking employers should address brake problems immediately with sufficient repairs. Commercial drivers should never be permitted to operate CMVs with worn, damaged or faulty brakes. This resource page has more information on brake safety and best practices for conducting proper vehicle inspections and maintenance. By promoting brake safety and efficiency within their fleets, trucking employers can make the most of this annual campaign, minimize accidents on the road and avoid costly violations.
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