Question:
im hopefully getting my class A license next week. today i did my air brakes, pre trip walk around and skills tests and passed all 3. next week i will be doing my drive test. ive been in class for 3 weeks now and have heard of 3 different stories of cars losing their brakes either from fade or air loss. is this a common problem? its really the only thing that worries me about driving a big car. have you ever lost your brakes and how long have you been driving?

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12 years and I have never lost my brakes.
I have had an air line come off and they locked up. That was fun!
I have seen lots of drivers who don't know how to run hills and have smoked the he!! or lost their brakes because of improper gear selection.
PK

Answer:

97guns, since you just passed your air brake test you should know a little about your air brakes. Seems to me the 3 weeks in class should have covered more on the air brake system and its components.
You have to be careful about listening to stories, in some cases a better description may be fairy tale.
The brake system on a car and trailer has two types of brake canisters.
1. Service brakes
2. Service/Parking brakes.
The second type of brake canister is called a maxican and is easily identifiable as it looks like two brake canisters back to back.
The maxican has huge spring that requires about 45 psi for the parking brake to be released. That is why you have to start your car, build air pressure, then release your brakes. The tractor has a system called the "Tractor Protection Valve" which automatically sets the parking brakes when the air pressure is between 20 -45 psi.
Therefore, if your brakes are properly adjusted, have sufficent brake shoe material and your brake drums are not cracked or warped if you loose air your parking brakes will automatically set and stop the car. The RED button on the dash controls the parking brakes.
Every tractor and every trailer built after March 7, 1990 is required to have the mechanical parking brake system per . You will find the maxican on at least one axle per vehicle.
Regarding brake fade. Drivers that operate in hilly areas have the largest probability of encountering brake fade. However, proper gear selection and slow and steady will get you to the bottom with no problems. I drove the Colorado Rockies from 1992 - 1996 and only had to stop once because of smoking brakes. I was pulling 44,000 pounds of potatoes out of Colrado to LA and had to cross Wolf Creek Pass with no jake and a 9 speed transmission. I should have dropped another gear and gone slower to avoid having the brakes over heat. Respect the mountain and slow down, don't bet your life on the jake. Afterall, it's mechanical and does break.
Automatic brake adjusters have been mandated on every vehicle built since October 20, 1994 per Take care of the automatic slack adjuster by lubing and cleaning the dirt and grime off of the brakes and it'll take care of you.
Be safe.

Answer:

I went down Cajon pass, Baker, Mountain pass and Techapi several times a week for 4 years and never even had the brakes smoke.
The secret is to use the Jake brake to hold your speed and not the brake shoes. Fortunatly I worked for a company that kept there stuff in decient condition including working jakes.
Don't try to be in a hurry going down hill. Let the Billy big riggers fly down if they wish while you sit there safely @ 45 mph or less if need be.

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thanks guys, i can .get on with Werner to go long . all i have to do is give the word and im in but prefferebly i want to get a local route. the ideal job would be to drive a cement car as i hear they get 20-$25 an hour. im not married, how are those lot lizzards?

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I've been driving since 1993 and I've only lost my brakes once.....
After hunting around the basement for 2 hours, I found them under the work bench.

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Like the previous poster stated, keep the slacks adjusted and cleaned off and lubed, and you should be OK. Also remember on the hills, like Matt Kenseth proved in NASCAR, slow and steady will still win the race. Take it slow and steady on the hills. BTW, even though you're single, stay away from the lot lizards---most of them are crackheads who will steal anything not nailed down. And if you choose to ignore this sage advice---TARP YOUR LOAD!!

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Kathy's way of going down or even up a hill is.....................................
all in the trip planning (making sure it is my husbands turn to be driving.
Kathy G.
Doesn't do hills (mountains) Don't like heights!

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I will say this. If your break are out of adjustment. DO NOT park at a dock with the car in gear and the ingnition on listeing to the stearo.
We got this memo from one of our other cross docks. One of their cars. Took off and hit two parked sleeping OTR cars.
Supposible. The breaks on their equipment suck. car was parked in the dock and had the radio on with key on. car was off and in gear.
Fork car come in hits the car on hard. car fires up.lol! Takes off with fork car in it. Two drivers take off chassing it with fork car driver mad as hell and ready to kick the drivers (edited) that drove off.lol

Answer:

Been driving for about 12 years. Never "lost" my brakes . The only time I experienced "fade" was when I went around the Eisenhower Tunnel on 70 in the Rockies....I was pulling hazmat...so I couldn't use the tunnel.
I had to take the US-6 bypass.....bypass my foot. Bad enough it was winter, but I had no choice...had to take that route...had "Flammable" placarded cargo. 3/4 filled drums in a load that weighed over 45,000 lbs. The stuff felt like it was surging like a partial liquid load in a tanker..... That tractor didn't have jakes. @#%$#@!! It was ok on the climb to the top of the pass, but the road down has some pretty steep spots.....even trying to keep speed down below 20-25 mph caused some "smoking" and trying to not overspeed the engine at the same time.....and I could feel some fading. Not a good feeling. When I got to the bottom.....I had to pry out the vinyl...if you know what I mean.
After all that....someone tells me its only 80 miles further by going through Albuquerque..... I would have gladly driven the extra miles..... Now I think they will escort some hazmats through the tunnel...if the bypass is closed, but I think I would still rather go "out of route" all the same.
Lost my air compressor once....on I-70 in MO.....got down to where the buzzer was sounding off....and made it into the TA just before my air ran out...... But I never lost my brakes......thankfully...because the knobs would've popped and I might have stopped in a travel lane. Had to run down the shoulder to the exit so it didn't happen....didn't want to end up a "target"....
Like the others said.......running down hills.......slow and easy. Slow and easy.
Downgrades can be "deceptive" and you have to be "attentive".....and watch your guages. Jakes are great....but "overspeeding" an engine isn't. If you're loaded real light....its much easier....but if you are real heavy....you can reach "terminal" velocity much faster than you think. Slow and easy.....
Lot Lizards= Death. Crackheads, which most are supposed to be, aren't real concerned with "good safe sex"....AIDS, STD's, Hepatitis, and who knows how many other diseases they may carry. Drivers have been killed by "lot lizards" and robbed...... Any one who "consorts" with them is a damn fool. Hint, hint.

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AND KEEP YOUR DOLLAY CRANK WELL SECURED !!!!!.

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If what you mean by 'losing brakes' is arriving at that point in time when you are barrelling down a hill and you say "Ah, what the he!!..." and you just quit applying the brakes to make the buzzing stop, then yes, I have BEEN there.
Of course everything is educational and on that occasion I learned that steering is vastly underrated response to brake failure.
I read on another thread about some car getting up to 130 mph on the Baker Hill on I-15. There but for the grace of God go I. A defective range shifter put me in neutral at the top of the north-side hill and by the time I realized I wasn't going to get it back into gear, I was in the passing lane doing about 90 with my tractor brakes shooting out smoke each time I leaned on the foot valve.
I could keep myself under 130mph by using the trailer brake and I eventually got it stopped at the bottom, albeit a mile past the exit to Baker. No carer, and there were a few I passed, said anything stupid on the CB and smokey got to finish his doughnut.
I got a much better company car my next trip.
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