Documenting Out of Adjustment Brake Violations in ASPEN

The changes to Part 393 in recent years have created issues with documenting brake adjustment violations for departments utilizing hand written reports and ASPEN software. Prior to the rewrite of 393 in late 2005 there was no specific section in the FMCSR's to document violations of brakes that exceed the adjustment limits. In the NAS OOSC, Part II a.(5) brake adjustment limits, 396.3a1ba was used to identify these violation. After the changes, FMCSR 393.47(e) is the violation to be used for clamp type and roto chambers and 393.47(f) for wedge type brakes found to be out of adjustment. Since there is no specific FMCSR section for bolt type and DD3 type brakes, 396.3a1b is still utilized for these types. With the establishment of the new sections, the uniformity of documenting this violation has fragmented resulting in possible miscommunication of violations as well as excessive OOS marked violations on inspection reports for a cumulative violation which unfairly effects carriers ratings.

There is a change needed in the documentation that would make the cumulative violation of out of adjustment brakes more uniform no matter what type of brakes the vehicle is equipped with. This would benefit enforcement by making the violation section universal and other stake holders by fair treatment of a cumulative violation that is OOS rather than multiple OOS violations which often occurs now. Currently, two of the three violation choices under brake adjustment in ASPEN have no restriction on the number of times they can be marked OOS, which often leads to them all being marked OOS once the 20% level has been obtained.

1st: Create a section with a lettered suffix to be used for brakes out of adjustment when the 20% level has been obtained (this section would be restricted for use only when the 20% level has been met. This would trigger the drop box for OOS in ASPEN software (i.e. 396.3a1bos Brake(s) out of adjustment (all types) meet or exceed 20% of brakes on the vehicle or combination of vehicles). 2nd: Eliminate the ability of 393.47(e) ,393.47(f) and 396.3a1ba to be marked OOS. The proper documentation of a vehicle OOS for brake adjustment would include one violation of 396.3a1bos for the 20% level being obtained, with the axle numbers and sides identified in the violation, this section would be marked OOS. The individual brakes that are out of adjustment would be listed as violations of their respective sections but not considered for OOS. Establish training for jurisdictions explaining the new section and its proper use, as well as proper documentation of the brake adjustment violation.