Why air brakes are important to a truck driver?

Question

Why air brakes are important to a truck driver?

Answer 1

Because they are used to stop the vehicle. The heat created by the braking  of a vehicle that can legally gross 80,000lbs would cook the fluid, if they had hydraulic brakes, thus not letting the vehicles to stop. If the air pressure gets too low or goes away, there is a braking action that occurs. It is the locking up of the brakes by a spring that is in the brake chambers( trucking's version of wheel cylinders). These require air pressure to release the brakes and are used for parking as well as emergency stopping in case of loss of air pressure. BUT, if the brakes get too hot, they will fade away and will NOT stop the vehicle no matter how much you press on the brakes. This occurrence is why on big hills there are runaway ramps to help get the big rigs stopped without severe damage to property or vehicles. On a good day, it takes a big rig about 2-3 times as far to stop as it does a car. In bad weather, that ratio is greatly increased.

Answer 2

If the truck has no air pressure then the tractor and trailer will be unable to stop when needed. the air brakes are used on both the tractor and trailer.Basically NO AIR NO BRAKES!

Answer 3

because if their air brakes fail, they have no brakes

a truck uses air brakes, like your car uses hydraulic brakes, it just happens that pneumatic brakes serve better on a truck

Answer 4

The foot brake sends air to all of the brakes on the vehicle (including the trailer(s)).

There is much less danger of causing a skid or jackknife when using just the foot brake.

Answer 5

Air brakes are safer because the air can be replenished easily by the tractor which drives an air compressor. Air brakes can be tricky without experience because there is no feedback to the pedal. In a normal hydraulic system you can "feel" the brakes as the pads contact the drums. Most big trucks have an AIR APPLICATION GAUGE to let the driver know how hard they are pressing on the pedal. Previous answer indicated "no air..no brakes" is not entirely correct. No air will not allow the parking brakes to release and therefore the truck will not move. when air is supplied to the braking system,then the service brakes can be used for normal driving.

Answer 6

they are used to work the trailer's brakes which help trucks stup alot easier then with just the cab's breaks