The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently scheduled this year’s Brake Safety Week for Aug. 23-29, 2026. This annual event emphasizes the importance of ensuring sufficient brake systems are in place in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).
Brake Safety Week aims to improve brake safety for CMVs across North America. The goal is to eliminate roadway crashes by conducting roadside inspections and educating drivers, mechanics, large-and small-fleet motor carriers, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.
The focus of this year’s event is brake drums and rotors. During this weeklong initiative, law enforcement personnel in the United States, Mexico and Canada will educate drivers and motor carriers about the importance of brake safety.
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. Results from last year’s 2025 Brake Safety Week showed that:
- 15,175 CMVs were inspected in the United States; 15.1% were placed out of service for brake-related issues.
- 2,296 CMVs were placed out of service: 1,199 (52.2%) for stand-alone brake violations and 375 (16.3%) for other brake out-of-service violations.
- 113 drum and rotor violations were found during last year’s initiative, which also focused on brake drums and rotors, resulting in 39 CMVs placed out of service.
- 528 performance-based brake tester (PBBT) inspections were conducted across 15 states. A PBBT is a machine that assesses the braking performance of a vehicle. U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and CVSA’sNorth American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria require the combination of vehicles to have a minimum braking efficiency rating of 43.5% in order to pass a PBBT inspection.
- 25 (4.7%) vehicles failed to meet the PBBT inspection’s required 43.5% minimum braking efficiency rate and were placed out of service.
- 503 of the vehicles tested passed the PBBT inspection.
The CVSA consistently schedules Brake Safety Week in August in conjunction with Brake Safety Awareness Month. The CVSA also provides educational resources for drivers and mechanics on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.
The CVSA encourages motor carriers and drivers to perform thorough pre- and post-trip inspections and ensure all brake components are in proper working order before operating their vehicles.
At the conclusion of Brake Safety Week, inspectors will combine all collected data and submit the results to the CVSA. The CVSA will then report its findings later in the year.
Brake Safety Week serves as an important reminder that safety is a shared responsibility among drivers, motor carriers, inspectors and the broader transportation community. Contact Delmarva’s Transportation Insurance experts at Deeley today for further commercial fleet resources and risk management guidance. Call or text 410-213-5600.
Check out CVSA’s new Brake Week flyer here.
