Before you install your next set of brake pads, I want you to realize one thing: There is no one regulating the quality and safety of that brake pad you hold except you! You have probably heard the horror stories about brake rotor manufacturers taking metal out of the castings to save money, or brake pad manufacturers using a single formulation across an entire line of pads. It starts to get even scarier when you realize there are no enforceable government or industry accepted regulations for replacement brake parts.

We have come to a critical intersection in the brake business. We can be proactive by taking measures to certify our supply of brake parts or at least be smarter buyers who control the market with our dollars. If we don’t, we will have to react to every bad news story or bad supplier until we have no control of the situation.

Don’t look to the government for solutions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s and the Department of Transportation’s main focus is not on testing the quality or performance of replacement brake parts, they just want to be able to track and recall brake parts after enough people are killed. The first serious accidents where a group of drivers (or their grieving families) can claim “brake failure” due a substandard part could mean increased regulation for not only the brake part manufacturers, but also for your shop.

It is a confusing conundrum where marketing and branding takes over from common sense. We are at a crossroads in the brake service industry. We have been forced here on a road paved with profits and good intentions. At this intersection we can either look both ways and make the right decisions, or plow through hoping no one is hurt and our suppliers (and your shop’s profits) do not receive a long-term handicap.