Brake failure in an 80,000-pound truck is not a sudden, unforeseeable event. Commercial brakes don't simply stop working without warning. They deteriorate through wear, lose effectiveness through improper adjustment, and fail when maintenance is neglected. When a truck's brakes fail and cause an accident, investigation almost always reveals a pattern of inadequate maintenance that made the failure predictable and preventable.
Proving that maintenance negligence caused brake failure transforms an accident case. Rather than arguing about driver error or momentary inattention, you can show systematic failures that preceded the crash. Maintenance records document what the company knew about brake condition and what they failed to do about it. This documented negligence often supports substantial settlements and, when maintenance failures were particularly egregious, punitive damages.
How Commercial Brake Systems Fail
Commercial trucks use air brake systems fundamentally different from the hydraulic brakes in passenger vehicles. Compressed air powers the braking mechanism, with multiple components that can fail if not properly maintained. Understanding these systems helps identify where maintenance negligence typically causes problems.
Brake shoes and pads wear down through normal use, gradually losing their ability to create sufficient friction for safe stopping. Drums and rotors similarly wear and can develop cracks or heat damage. Regulations require replacement when components wear beyond specified limits, but companies trying to save money may push components beyond safe service life. Worn brakes that couldn't stop the truck in time represent classic maintenance negligence.
Air brake systems require periodic adjustment through devices called slack adjusters. As brake shoes wear, slack adjusters must be reset to maintain proper brake engagement. Improperly adjusted brakes may not engage fully or may fail to engage at all on some wheels. This adjustment is required at every inspection, but cutting corners is common. Poorly adjusted brakes look fine sitting still but fail when stopping power is actually needed.
Air system integrity is essential for brake function. Leaks in air lines, fittings, or brake chambers reduce the pressure available for braking. Significant leaks can cause complete brake failure when air pressure drops below the level needed to engage brakes. These leaks are detectable during proper inspection and should be repaired immediately—continuing to operate with known air leaks is maintenance negligence.
Federal Maintenance Requirements
The FMCSA establishes detailed requirements for brake inspection and maintenance. Drivers must inspect brakes during pre-trip inspections every day, checking for audible air leaks, proper adjustment, and visible wear or damage. Qualified inspectors must examine brakes thoroughly at least annually, measuring component wear, checking air system integrity, and testing brake performance.
Specific conditions trigger immediate repair requirements. Brake shoes worn below one-quarter inch, audible air leaks at brake components, missing or inoperative brakes, or having 20 percent or more of brakes defective on any axle—any of these conditions makes the truck illegal to operate until repairs are completed. Continuing to operate with out-of-service brake conditions violates federal law and establishes clear negligence.
These regulations create documentation that proves maintenance negligence when failures occur. Inspection records should show what was found and what was repaired. Repair records document what work was performed. When these records show problems that weren't addressed, or when inspection intervals were missed, the company's negligence is documented in its own files.
Evidence of Maintenance Negligence
Building a brake failure case requires obtaining and analyzing the trucking company's maintenance records. These records reveal whether inspections were performed on schedule, what problems were identified, and how quickly repairs were made. A pattern of delayed repairs, deferred maintenance, or ignored driver complaints about brakes demonstrates the company chose to save money rather than maintain safe equipment.
Driver inspection reports provide crucial evidence. Drivers complete pre-trip and post-trip inspection reports noting any problems observed. When these reports show brake complaints that weren't addressed, the company is documented knowing about problems and failing to fix them. Some drivers report problems repeatedly before accidents—a paper trail showing the company ignored warnings.
The truck's roadside inspection history shows what federal and state inspectors found on previous occasions. Trucks with prior brake violations were already on notice that their maintenance was inadequate. Continuing to operate without addressing identified problems demonstrates systematic negligence, not an isolated oversight.
Physical examination of the truck after the accident reveals current brake condition. Experts can measure brake shoe thickness, check adjustment, identify air leaks, and determine whether components were worn beyond service limits. This post-accident inspection establishes what the company should have known if they had been inspecting properly—and often reveals conditions that no adequate inspection could have missed.
Who Is Liable for Brake Failures
The trucking company bears primary responsibility for vehicle maintenance. Federal regulations place this duty directly on the motor carrier, and it cannot be delegated away. Even when outside shops perform maintenance work, the carrier remains responsible for ensuring its vehicles are safe. A trucking company cannot escape liability by pointing to a maintenance provider—though that provider may share responsibility.
Third-party maintenance companies can be directly liable when their negligent work contributes to brake failure. If a shop performed brake service shortly before the failure and did the work improperly—using substandard parts, failing to properly adjust brakes, or missing obvious problems during service—they may share responsibility for the resulting accident.
The truck driver may bear some responsibility for failing to conduct adequate pre-trip inspections or for operating with known brake problems. However, driver liability typically matters less than company liability from a practical standpoint—the company has insurance and assets that individual drivers lack.
Expert Testimony
Brake failure cases require expert witnesses who can analyze the evidence and explain it to juries. Mechanical engineers examine the brake system to identify what failed and why. They can determine whether components were worn beyond limits, whether air leaks existed, and whether the failure was foreseeable through proper inspection and maintenance.
Accident reconstruction experts establish the connection between brake failure and the collision. They can calculate what stopping distance proper brakes would have achieved, compare that to the distance available, and demonstrate that functional brakes would have prevented the crash. This causation analysis links the maintenance negligence directly to your injuries.
Trucking industry experts explain how responsible companies handle brake maintenance and how the defendant departed from industry standards. They can testify about what adequate maintenance programs look like, what records should have shown, and how the company's practices fell below acceptable norms. This context helps juries understand the significance of documentation gaps and ignored warning signs.
Settlement Values and Punitive Damages
Brake failure cases often produce substantial settlements because the evidence of negligence is so clear. Maintenance records create a paper trail showing exactly what the company knew and failed to do. Unlike cases where liability is disputed, brake failure cases often come down to how much the company will pay rather than whether they were at fault.
Punitive damages frequently apply in brake failure cases. When companies operated trucks they knew had brake problems, when they deferred maintenance to save money despite safety risks, or when they ignored repeated warnings from drivers and inspectors, they demonstrated the reckless disregard that justifies punitive awards. Juries respond strongly to evidence that companies chose profits over safety and caused foreseeable harm.
Even moderate injuries with clear brake maintenance negligence often settle for 00,000 to 50,000. Serious injuries commonly produce settlements of million to million. Catastrophic injuries or death with documented maintenance failures regularly result in settlements of million or more, with punitive damages potentially adding substantially to those amounts.
Preserving Your Claim
The truck itself is critical evidence that must be preserved. Send spoliation letters immediately demanding that the truck remain unrepaired and available for inspection. Without examining the actual brake components, proving their condition at the time of the accident becomes much more difficult.
Maintenance records must also be preserved. These documents may be routinely destroyed per company policy without a formal preservation demand. Your attorney should request all inspection reports, repair records, driver complaints, and correspondence about the truck's maintenance going back at least two years before the accident.
The window for evidence preservation is narrow. Trucks may be repaired quickly if the company doesn't realize litigation is coming. Records may be destroyed through routine document management. Acting within days of the accident to demand preservation ensures the evidence you need will be available when your case proceeds.