Air Brake Certification

This was about 6 years ago, with auto slack adjusters. I've never adjusted on the road. Only when I picked up a chassis that rolled.

 

With a 9/16 wrench or ratchet

 

Same way it's done today:

Run the truck until 120 psi is reached listen for governor cut out.
Shut off the engine.
Put the truck in low gear (for safety)
Block the wheels.
Release the brakes - ensure the truck cannot be moved.
Turn the adjustment bolt until you hear and see the shoes bottom out against the drum, you may hear a buzzing or ratcheting sound as you close the gap.
Back the brakes off 1/4 or 1/2 turn. Some style of slack adjusters require the depression of a cylinder-shaped guard that surrounds the adjustment bolt in order to back off the brakes.
Brakes are adjusted.
Carry on.

 

The gist of the class is that you don't adjust automatic slacks unless you're working on the system. If you find an automatic slack out of adjustment, there's a problem with the system and you need to investigate further rather than just adjust it up and get back rolling. Could be a bad slack, worn s-cam bushings, worn pins, etc and the adjustment is the symptom, not the cause.

That being said, If a DOT officer finds a brake out of adjustment, I'm going to adjust it up, get back to my shop ASAP and fix it for real there. "Air Brake Certified" or not.

 

I'm pretty sure he knows how to adjust brakes. I think his question is more or less oriented towards the required certification to work on an air-brake system.

To answer that, look at the regulations:

In other words, if you've passed the air brake portion of your CDL (i.e. you are certified to drive a vehicle with air brakes) then you meet the requirements of an "inspector", as you must inspect the system as part of your daily inspections.

 

He wants to be certified to do his own brake work. That's his question, how he gets certified to work on his brakes legally.

 

So can you fill out the form and certify yourself?

 

Why not? If you've fulfilled the requirements, you're qualified. Nothing in the regs states what sort of qualifications are needed to sign the certificate certifying you...or prohibiting you from signing it yourself.

 

Kind of like since I have my own authority I had to give myself a road test to make sure I was able to drive.

It was tough the examiner was real prick and I barely passed.

 

Yup. Lots of ridiculous hoops to jump through when you're both the boss AND the employee.