Historical textIn force on Oct. 1, 2004Source: annual CFR editions 1996–2004

§ 393.43 Breakaway and emergency braking.

Wording first on file in the 1996 annual edition, superseded by the 2005 annual edition.

govinfo, 2004 edition ↗

Compare with

Before Jan. 1, 2017 the record is one snapshot per annual CFR edition, revised as of October 1. This is the 2004 edition's wording. An amendment that took effect between Oct. 1, 2004 and Oct. 1, 2004 would not appear until the next edition, so check the citations below and the Federal Register for exact effective dates.

49 CFR § 393.43 — Breakaway and emergency braking.. Text in force on October 1, 2004. This wording effective October 1, 1996 to October 1, 2005. Source: govinfo, 2004 edition, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2004-title49-vol4/CFR-2004-title49-vol4-sec393-43. Retrieved from FMCSR.com, https://fmcsr.com/reg/393.43?asof=2004-10-01, on October 26, 2026. Unofficial compilation; verify against the official source.

(a) Every motor vehicle, if used to tow a trailer equipped with brakes, shall be equipped with means for providing that in case of breakaway of such trailer the service brakes on the towing vehicle will be sufficiently operative to stop the towing vehicle.

(b) Every truck or truck tractor equipped with air brakes, when used for towing other vehicles equipped with air brakes, shall be equipped with two means of activating the emergency features of the trailer brakes. One of these means shall operate automatically in the event of reduction of the towing vehicle air supply to a fixed pressure which shall not be lower than 20 pounds per square inch nor higher than 45 pounds per square inch. The other means shall be a manually controlled device readily operable by a person seated in the driving seat. Its emergency position or method of operation shall be clearly indicated. In no instance may the manual means be so arranged as to permit its use to prevent operation of the automatic means. The automatic and manual means required by this section may be, but are not required to be, separate.

(c) Every truck tractor and truck when used for towing other vehicles equipped with vacuum brakes, shall have, in addition to the single control required by § 393.49 to operate all brakes of the combination, a second manual control device which can be used to operate the brakes on the towed vehicles in emergencies. Such second control shall be independent of brake air, hydraulic, and other pressure, and independent of other controls, unless the braking system be so arranged that failure of the pressure on which the second control depends will cause the towed vehicle brakes to be applied automatically. The second control is not required by this rule to provide modulated or graduated braking.

(d) Every trailer required to be equipped with brakes shall be equipped with brakes of such character as to be applied automatically and promptly upon breakaway from the towing vehicle, and means shall be provided to maintain application of the brakes on the trailer in such case for at least 15 minutes.

(e) Air brake systems installed on towed vehicles shall be so designed, by the use of “no-bleed-back” relay emergency valves or equivalent devices, that the supply reservoir used to provide air for brakes shall be safeguarded against backflow of air to the towing vehicle upon reduction of the towing vehicle air pressure.

(f) The requirements of paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section shall not be applicable to motor vehicles in driveaway-towaway operations.

Amendment history

2 distinct wordings on file since Oct. 1, 1996

Oct. 1, 2005 → presentannual editions 2005–2016diff vs. previous
[53 FR 49384, Dec. 7, 1988, as amended at 70 FR 48050, Aug. 15, 2005]
Oct. 1, 1996 → Oct. 1, 2005annual editions 1996–2004viewing

A new entry appears whenever the regulatory words change between government snapshots. Day-precise from the eCFR (2017 onward); before that, one snapshot per annual CFR edition (revised as of October 1). Bracketed citations are the Federal Register history printed with the section.