Makers of Electronic Stability Controls Pleased by NHTSA’s Proposed Mandate
This story appears in the May 21 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Manufacturers of electronic stability control systems were pleased the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed mandating ESC for all heavy vehicles, rather than more limited roll-stability equipment, representatives of the companies said.
“If NHTSA is going to mandate stability, they’ve picked the right technology for that, for both tractors and motor coaches,” Fred Andersky, director of government affairs at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, told Transport Topics.
Bendix competitor Meritor Wabco also supports NHTSA’s concept.
“We agree with NHTSA’s recognition of the benefits of ESC technology,” Jon Morrison, president of Meritor Wabco, said in a May 16 statement.
“What’s clear is that these technologies do provide clear benefits,” said Mark Melletat, the company’s director of field operations. “Technologies such as this can provide great benefits to drivers, should the need arise.”
Meritor Wabco is a joint venture of commercial vehicle parts maker Meritor Inc. and vehicle controls maker Wabco Automotive Controls Inc.
ESC makers knew the proposal was coming, but were not sure if NHTSA would mandate ESC or the less complicated roll stability control. RSC systems are designed to prevent only rollovers, while ESC adds features meant to prevent oversteering, understeering and loss of control.
“If there’s going to be a mandate on stability control technology, we definitely feel that ESC over roll-only technology is the right call,” Andersky said.
Bendix sold the first commercially available ESC for heavy vehicles in 2005, he said. The company is a unit of the Knorr-Bremse Group, which is based in Germany.
“In terms of what NHTSA wants to accomplish . . . this is definitely going to help reduce crashes, reduce injuries, reduce fatalities,” Andersky said.
NHTSA considered mandating only RSC, which is a cheaper technology than ESC. But it found the safety benefits of RSC to be much lower than ESC, and the latter technology to be more cost effective, the agency said in its proposal.
Meritor Wabco agreed with NHTSA’s decision to go for ESC as well, Melletat said. “ESC offers additional enhancements versus RSC,” he said.
Meritor Wabco calls its stability control systems SmarTrac, which it said is on 150,000 commercial vehicles in North America. Bendix’s Electronic Stability Program, which is an ESC system, is in more than 175,000 vehicles, it said.
Even without a mandate, some fleets have adopted ESC because it provides a strong return on investment, Andersky said.
“If this mitigates one situation, it’s covered the costs for the entire fleet,” he said. “We think that’s probably what fleets are finding is driving their ROI.”
Meritor Wabco also has had success in selling its ESC, which it first sold in 2005.
“Over the last five years, sales of ESC have more than doubled each and every year,” Melletat said.
