Electronic engine controls
This paper reports that pioneered in the mid-80s to manage and optimize engine performance under continually changing conditions, electronic controls have made a significant impact on truck maintenance. But they also served another important purpose: they curbed emissions enough to meet EPA's new heavy-truck standards set in 1985 (see sidebar). In that same year, Detroit Diesel introduced its Detroit Diesel Electronic Controls (DDEC) system, and a trend was born. Suddenly horsepower rating, torque curve, and maximum engine and road speed could be governed by electronics. Engine-mounted sensors could provide drivers with precise information about fluid and pressure levels, inside and outside temperatures, and a host of other information. The advent of electronic engine controls signaled the dawn of a revolution in trucking. For company owners who wanted greater control of their operations, electronics were wonderful news. But new controls meant new engine designs and radical changes in engine maintenance and repair. So for many members of the waste-hauling industry, electronics were far from wonderful. It's not that haulers didn't want cleaner air or trucks that were increasingly fuel efficient. It's more that they winced at the thought of retraining their mechanics - already hard to find and retain - to work on a new breed of engine. Then there were other considerations. drivers, for example, might not cotton to the fancy electronic dashboard displays. They might also rebel at having their maximum road speed present at a rate they couldn't change. Then there was the cost factor: Electronics and other provisions used to meet Clean Air Act reductions of oxides of nitrogen between 1991, 94 and 98 model years could add as much as $10,000 to $15,000 to the cost of each truck.
- OSTI ID:
- 7116373
- Journal Information:
- Waste Age; (United States), Vol. 22:7; ISSN 0043-1001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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