Out of adjustment air brakes reduce the braking capacity for large vehicles and further inhibit their stopping distance, which under ideal conditions is already twice as far as that for cars and other smaller vehicles. Historically there has not been a significant change in the rate of vehicles taken out of service for poor brake adjustment. Traditional enforcement methods, through CVSA inspections, by themselves don't seem to have an impact on this trend, even though this function does take dangerous vehicles off the road. Most self adjusting brakes require several brake applications of at least 80 psi to adjust properly.
Drivers are responsible to ensure brakes are checked daily for proper adjustment.