News release

Province To Participate in Operation Brake Check

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (Oct. 2000 - March 2014)

SERVICE N.S./MUNICIPAL RELATIONS--Province To Participate in Operation Brake Check


Commercial trucks entering the province with unsafe brakes will be stopped in their tracks on Thursday, Sept. 4 during Operation Brake Check.

Operation Brake Check is an annual international event, with inspections occurring across Canada and the United States.

Vehicle compliance officers from Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations will spot check the brakes on commercial vehicles at the inbound Amherst weigh scale. As in past years, the inspections could also focus on other safety equipment, driver and vehicle documentation, and illegal use of tax-exempt fuel.

RCMP may also be on hand, under the terms of a joint safety enforcement agreement signed with the province on April 4.

Vehicles that do not pass the safety inspections are taken out of service. In many cases, a simple adjustment and a re-test will clear the vehicle to complete its journey. In more serious cases, the vehicle must be towed to a repair centre.

While the Amherst weigh scale is the main test site, mobile inspectors will patrol the province; commercial vehicles can be stopped anywhere in the province.

"Last year, staff inspected 80 vehicles during Operation Brake Check and about 11 per cent were taken out of service," said Dave Munro, manager of vehicle compliance at Service Nova Scotia.

The international out-of-service average is 15 per cent, which means that trucks travelling in Nova Scotia are safer than in some other jurisdictions.

Earlier this year, Nova Scotia won top prize for commercial vehicle safety from CRASH, a national truck safety advocacy group. The organization said that fewer trucks fail inspections in Nova Scotia and there are fewer truck-related collisions and deaths in the province.