Guidelines for Development of Functional Specifications for Performance-Based Brake Testers Used to Inspect Commercial Motor Vehicles

Summary: The FMCSA is announcing its final determination establishing functional specifications for performance-based brake testing machines purchased with Federal funds from the agency's Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). The FMCSA is nearing the completion of a multi-year research program to evaluate prototype performance-based brake testing technologies, including roller dynamometers, flat-plate testers, breakaway torque testers, an on-board electronic decelerometer, and an infrared brake temperature measurement system. To date, the FMCSA has determined that certain performance-based brake testing machines are eligible for funding under MCSAP, but only as screening and sorting devices in commercial vehicle inspections. The FMCSA is establishing generic functional specifications that will be applicable to a range of brake testing technologies. The States may use the functional specifications as guidelines to determine whether the purchase of a specific brake tester would be an eligible expense item under the MCSAP.