Brakes: Inspectors Review New-Era Testing Devices

en years after the federal government first explored the commercial applicability of performance-based brake testers, state safety inspection agencies are evaluating technology that would replace time-consuming visual inspections currently in use to identify faulty brakes.

If states move toward wider adoption of performance-based brake testers, the technology — which is being tested by officials in Indiana, Washington and Wisconsin — would permit more brake tests in less time by fewer roadside inspectors, said manufacturers of the $100,000 machines.

But even as the devices are being tested, some industry officials expressed concern that adopting them would translate into higher costs for fleets by identifying more problems than would need to be fixed. There are also debates in progress over whether the machines, often referred to as PBBTs, should be installed at fleet terminals or roadside inspection stations.