North American Standard Part "B" Course Materials - Confirm Air Brake System Air Pressure

Currently at Step 13 in the North American Standard Level I Inspection Procedure there is no indication of the amount of air pressure there should be in the air brake system prior to turning the vehicle off. In the participant manual for the Level I NASI course Part-B page 1-3 it identifies that the inspector should confirm air pressure is between 90-100 psi. This is the pressure that we are to measure the pushrod travel at as well. However, prior to Step 31 - check brake adjustment there could be several brake applications made to check the brake lamp function on all vehicles in the combination. At times this can reduce the air pressure in the brake system below the 90-100 psi and we would have to start the vehicle up again. If the air pressure in the brake system was at maximum pressure (governor cut out pressure) at Step 13 - prepare Driver for Vehicle Inspection, we could do several brake applications to test the brake lamp functions on multiple units and still not reduce the air pressure in the brake system below 90-100 psi. If anything the driver may just have to fan his brakes down in Step 28 (as per a previous request I sent in to have checking air pressure is between 90-100 psi prior to going under the vehicle) and therefore not have to start the vehicle up to build air pressure.

By incorporating having the air pressure a governor cut out pressure in Step 13 it would reduce the number of times the driver will have to start the vehicle to build air pressure.

Add a procedure in Step 13 for checking that the air pressure in the air brake system is at the governor cut out pressure or above 100 psi.