Recommended Standards for the Service Brakes on Large Trucks in Mountain Mining Service

Experience has shown that the conventional service brakes on large mining trucks are not adequate for emergency use when the trucks are used in mountain mining. Following several serious accidents involving runaway vehicles, in Alberta and British Columbia, the regulatory authorities have instituted ‘on the road’ brake tests both for vehicle type and for annual monitoring. In addition, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board commissioned a technical review of present service brake practice and a study of the requirements when trucks are utilized in mountain mining service.

This paper summarizes the recommendations emanating from that study for the service brake and emergency brake systems. A rational justification for the recommendations is presented and numerical examples for the various calculations are included.

A comparison is drawn of the recommended standards with the requirements of SAE Recommended Practice J166, Minimum Performance Criteria for Brake Systems for Off-Highway Trucks and Wagons.