Research into gaining better understanding of the characteristics of heavy trucks operating on Interstate highways, and how those characteristics may be improved in future engineering of trucks is the focus of a program involving Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories. ORNL transportation researcher Bill Knee is leading a laboratory effort that involves placing 90 special monitoring instruments at various locations on the tractor and trailer. Characteristics such as engine parameters, emissions and the driving environment will be addressed. The two-year program will collect data on long-haul truck performance as the test trucks are driven on Interstate highways between Chicago and Portland, and between Miami and Bangor, Maine. The data will support modeling efforts and will be made available to automotive engineers in the trucking industry to support development of more energy efficient and safer trucks of the future. The data will also be useful to the Department of Energy to support making future investments in energy efficiency technologies. The program is funded by DOE's Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies.
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