In-Service Evaluation of the Reliability, Maintainability, and Durability of Antilock Braking Systems (ABS) for Heavy Truck Tractors

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In-Service Evaluation of the Reliability, Maintainability, and Durability of Antilock Braking Systems (ABS) for Heavy Truck Tractors

L. F. Klusmeyer / A. W. Gray / J. S. Bishop / M. Van Schoiack / J. M. Woods

A two-year project studied the reliability, maintainability, and durability of antilock braking systems installed in 200 truck tractors which were operated in normal revenue service by 17 fleets in 6 cities located in the northern United States. All antilock braking systems which were available in 1988 were included in the test (40 installations of each system) and the antilock systems were installed on truck tractors produced by all of the major United States truck tractor manufacturers. During the two-year test, the ABS equipped tractors accumulated approximately 40 million miles of in-service revenue-producing operation. Maintenance actions for all 200 ABS-equipped tractors and for an additional 88 comparable tractors without ABS were monitored and recorded. Fleet personnel were encouraged to comment about the ABS installations at their fleet. Particular emphasis was placed on recording any negative comments which were made. ABS operation was monitored by on-board data recorders each ABS operation and kept a record of truck mileage, number of brake applications, brake pressure distribution, and deceleration during braking. To verify that these records were representative of normal non-ABS operation, 16 truck tractors out of the 88 control trucks (not equipped with ABS) had data recorders installed. All accidents involving the participating tractors were investigated, with particular attention being given to those which might have involved braking and/or ABS operation.