Brake Safety Week: inspectors sideline 2,369 trucks, 15.3% of those checked

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance released the results on Nov. 6, 2026. Fifty-one jurisdictions took part, and 91% of the checks were full Level I inspections. In 2025, CVSA reported 15,175 inspections in 52 jurisdictions and 2,296 vehicles placed out of service.

Results by country

What put trucks out of service

Nearly half of the sidelined vehicles, 1,176 or 49.6%, had at least 20% of their service brakes in out-of-service condition. That alone is enough to stop a truck.

CVSA also counted the brake violations behind the out-of-service orders. One vehicle can have more than one violation, so these counts do not add up to 2,369 vehicles:

• Brake hoses and tubing: 600 violations.
• Air loss rate: 145 violations.
• Steering axle: 92 brake lining violations and 119 other steering axle brake violations.
• Everything else: 759 violations, including tractor protection systems, air tanks, parking and emergency brakes, and low-air warning devices.

This year’s focus: drums and rotors

Each Brake Safety Week has a focus area, and in 2026 it was brake drums and rotors. Inspectors found 141 drum and rotor violations and put 64 vehicles out of service for them. Truck News reported the breakdown: 33 broken rotors, 48 rusted rotors, 24 metal-to-metal contacts and 36 broken drums.

Brake testing machines

In 12 U.S. jurisdictions, inspectors also ran 657 vehicles through performance-based brake testers. Twenty-nine of them, or 4.41%, did not reach the minimum braking efficiency of 43.5% and were placed out of service.

Next year moves to spring

CVSA has set Brake Safety Week 2027 for April 18–24. This year’s campaign ran in late August.

Weigh stations were busy this fall for other reasons too. See our report on the Arkansas sweep that sidelined 393 drivers and trucks, and more trucks and equipment news.