U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Scientific and Technical Information
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Duty Cycles
Abstract
This dataset provides second-by-second duty cycle data for Class 6 and Class 8 diesel trucks in Texas, including key vehicle metrics, engine-related data, and GPS data (excluding GPS latitude and longitude to ensure confidentiality). The data were collected via tablets installed on the trucks and organized into daily datasets, each associated with a unique vehicle ID and date. There are 12 daily datasets for Class 6 diesel trucks (three unique vehicle IDs) and 43 daily datasets for Class 8 diesel trucks (six unique vehicle IDs). The units associated with each column are included in the name. The engine performance data include columns such as engine speed, engine percent torque, and engine fuel rate. Road grade (%/100) was estimated using the GPS altitude and wheel-based vehicle speed, which is used as an input for FASTSim. Cumulative distance was also calculated using the wheel-based vehicle speed. Additional columns include: - Engine Speed (RPM): Removed inaccurate readings and used to calculate angular velocity (radians/second). - Torque (N·m): Calculated using engine percent torque, nominal friction percent torque, and engine reference torque values (those columns were removed from dataset), then normalized to express as torque (%). - Flywheel Power (%): Calculated using the angular velocitymore »
- Authors:
-
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Publication Date:
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Idaho National Laboratory
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)
- Subject:
- 1Hz; 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; CAN; GPS; diesel trucks; duty cycle; heavy-duty vehicles; medium-duty vehicles; vehicle operating data; vehicle testing
- OSTI Identifier:
- 2570072
- DOI:
- https://doi.org/10.15483/2570072
Citation Formats
Lustbader, Jason, and Birky, Alicia. Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Duty Cycles. United States: N. p., 2025.
Web. doi:10.15483/2570072.
Lustbader, Jason, & Birky, Alicia. Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Duty Cycles. United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.15483/2570072
Lustbader, Jason, and Birky, Alicia. 2025.
"Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Duty Cycles". United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.15483/2570072. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/2570072. Pub date:Thu Dec 11 23:00:00 EST 2025
@article{osti_2570072,
title = {Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Duty Cycles},
author = {Lustbader, Jason and Birky, Alicia},
abstractNote = {This dataset provides second-by-second duty cycle data for Class 6 and Class 8 diesel trucks in Texas, including key vehicle metrics, engine-related data, and GPS data (excluding GPS latitude and longitude to ensure confidentiality). The data were collected via tablets installed on the trucks and organized into daily datasets, each associated with a unique vehicle ID and date. There are 12 daily datasets for Class 6 diesel trucks (three unique vehicle IDs) and 43 daily datasets for Class 8 diesel trucks (six unique vehicle IDs). The units associated with each column are included in the name. The engine performance data include columns such as engine speed, engine percent torque, and engine fuel rate. Road grade (%/100) was estimated using the GPS altitude and wheel-based vehicle speed, which is used as an input for FASTSim. Cumulative distance was also calculated using the wheel-based vehicle speed. Additional columns include: - Engine Speed (RPM): Removed inaccurate readings and used to calculate angular velocity (radians/second). - Torque (N·m): Calculated using engine percent torque, nominal friction percent torque, and engine reference torque values (those columns were removed from dataset), then normalized to express as torque (%). - Flywheel Power (%): Calculated using the angular velocity and torque (in kW), then normalized as a percentage of the maximum value. - Engine Fuel Rate (%) and Torque (%): Both metrics were normalized by dividing by their respective maximum values within each dataset to express them as percentages. The datasets were analyzed to assess the energy impact of various driving behaviors, simulate energy efficiency, and recommend optimal routes for diesel trucks using NREL’s tool called RouteE. For driver coaching, factors like speed and acceleration limits were considered, and idle periods were reduced (assuming the engine was off during idling) to adjust each drive cycle. These adjusted drive cycles were then simulated in FASTSim to evaluate their effect on fleet energy consumption and estimate potential energy savings. The original cycles are available for download on this page },
doi = {10.15483/2570072},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 11 23:00:00 EST 2025},
month = {Thu Dec 11 23:00:00 EST 2025}
}