You have about three weeks to get the brake systems of commercial vehicles you work on up to snuff ahead of a massive inspection effort.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has designated Aug. 23-29 as this year’s Brake Safety Week, a seven-day focused inspection and enforcement initiative designed to improve safety by ensuring commercial motor vehicles on our roadways are operating with properly maintained and functioning braking systems.

Throughout that week, inspectors in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will conduct routine commercial motor vehicle inspections with a focus on brake systems and components. Vehicles with brake-related out-of-service violations, or any other out-of-service violations, will be removed from roadways until those violations are corrected.

In addition, inspectors will focus on drums and rotors, the emphasis for this year’s brake-safety initiative. Brake drum and rotor issues may affect a vehicle’s brake efficiency. Broken pieces of drums and rotors may become dislodged from the vehicle en route and damage other vehicles or result in injuries or fatalities to the motoring public.

Brake Safety Week aims to improve commercial motor vehicle brake safety throughout North America, according to the CVSA.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.