Operation Air Brake

Have you checked your brakes today?

Air brakes out of adjustment constitute the major defect type that results in vehicle being taken out of service (40%). Out of adjustment air brakes reduce the braking capacity for large vehicles and further inhibit their stopping distance, which under ideal conditions is already twice as far as that for cars and other smaller vehicles. This increases the risk to other users of the road and the driver of the vehicle itself.

Historically there has not been a significant change in the rate of vehicles taken out of service for poor brake adjustment. Traditional enforcement methods, through CVSA inspections by themselves don't seem to have an impact on this trend, even though this function does take dangerous vehicles off the road.

In 1996, the Transport Compliance Branch, in partnership with Saskatchewan Government Insurance and the Saskatchewan Professional Driver Safety Council implemented a program entitled "Operation Air Brake" which combines awareness and enforcement activities to deal with the air brake adjustment problem.

CVSA Region V (all Canadian jurisdictions), as part of its strategy to reduce the out of service rate in Canada, has adopted the Operation Air Brake program.

Did you know?

For every 100 degrees Celsius a brake drum heats up it expands 1/10 of an inch. In other words a push rod measured on a cold drum at 1 3/4 inch would measure 2 1/4 inch on a drum at 500 degrees Celsius.  Most self adjusting brakes require several brake applications of at least 80 psi to adjust properly.  Drivers are responsible to ensure brakes are checked daily for proper adjustment.