Maintenance & inspection
What is a brake test?
A brake test measures braking performance, most reliably on a roller brake tester. Assessing brake performance meaningfully across the inspection cycle is expected rather than optional.
A visual check of brake components is not an assessment of performance. Wear can be within limits while the system as a whole underperforms, and only a measured test shows that.
Laden testing matters because an unladen vehicle can pass a test it would fail loaded. Testing at or near operating weight is what makes the result representative.
Results are worth trending rather than just passing. A vehicle whose efficiency drops steadily across tests is telling you something before it fails one.
What goes wrong in practice
- Visual inspection substituted for a measured test.
- Testing unladen, producing results that do not represent the vehicle in use.
- Results filed rather than trended, so gradual deterioration is invisible.