Abstract
The rapid growth in the number of trucks on the nation's highways combined with the fact that safety violation rates have not declined significantly have created an urgency to increase the efficiency of heavy-truck inspections. At the same time, the growing number of on-board electronic systems are delivering more information than ever before about key components of vehicle operation. The objective of this study is to determine whether it would be feasible to standardize electronic diagnostic interface systems and use them to help make roadside inspection faster, more accurate, and less constrained by shortages of qualified inspection personnel. The study found that electronics has made significant inroads into components of heavy-duty commercial vehicles. In addition to widely adopted systems, such as electronically controlled engines, transmissions, and antilock brakes, the technology exists for a number of new applications. The heavy-duty Class 8 truck of the year 2000 and beyond could be equipped with as many as 50 electronic systems but more likely with three to seven intelligent control devices for the engine, transmission, brakes, retarder, instrument cluster, trip recorder, and off-board communications. There is potential for using these electronics in roadside inspections as standardization efforts by the Society of Automotive Engineers and The Maintenance Council successfully continue if the proper on-board parameters are made available to inspectors.
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