BLOG

During last year’s Brake Safety Week, 12% of the 43,565 commercial motor vehicles inspected were placed out of service for brake-related violations.

The wheel end is the heart of the axle and its margin for error in setting end play — how loosely or tightly the bearings sit inside the hub — is thinner than a sheet of paper.

A properly functioning wheel-end hub is essential to all medium- and heavy-duty truck and trailer brake systems. Which means when a hub begins to leak, the outcome if untreated can quickly become catastrophic.

Recently, Continental explained how underinflation wreaks havoc on a fleet's operating costs, and that tire monitoring can reduce costly blowouts and improve retreadability, leading to better total cost of ownership.

Inflating tires to match loads provides the best conditions for optimal treadwear, but it also requires a higher level of maintenance. There are a lot of misconceptions about load and inflation pressure that can help fleets increase efficiency.

According to Bendix, a vehicle with one dragging brake can consume about one extra gallon of fuel per 90 miles. Traveling 400 miles per day could equate to an extra 4.4 gallons of fuel consumed each day.

Air brakes operate differently from hydraulic brake systems found on automobiles and light- duty trucks. All air brake systems differ somewhat depending on manufacturer design and application-specific options. This chapter will detail the three basic systems of air brakes you should be familiar with before attempting maintenance or replacement work.