To the Editor:

I absolutely object to the conclusions in your article about Jake brakes in last week’s edition of The Smoky Mountain News (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/11190).

Jake brakes are an absolute necessity for trucks. It prevents the regular brakes from “fading,” which is the overheating of the brakes. This renders them useless and leaves the truck with no working brakes at all. It is absolutely not a matter of maintenance costs.

But I agree on one thing — trucks need to be equipped with a working exhaust system. That will keep the noise down and also will make the Jake brake more efficient.

Any truck manufacturer or truck owner can tell you this. Jake brakes are a safety measure. Wait for the first casualty, heaven forbid it will be a fatality. Without Jake breaks, a truck going downhill is like an out of control roller coaster.

Gino Deneef

Franklin