Meritor Test Trucks: Field Work

Lined up and ready to roll.

A glimpse of just some of the data-capture and computing gear installed on Meritor's test trucks.

The PCs display braking force, brake temperature, and many other data points critical to understanding how components are holding up under repeated strain.

Orange cones denoted the different 'braking lanes' the test trucks could use.

The green 'Kermit' tractor used the center lane to conduct a high speed 'go and stop' test.

The object of the 'go and stop' test is to perform a high-speed emergency stop as close as possible to the orange 'target' cone without hitting it.

Journalists along with Meritor executives were given two 'runs' at the 'got and stop' test, with the one stopping the truck closest to the cone the winner. Chad Mitts, Meritor's GM for its North American brake operations, won the competition.

In the far upper right of this photo on the hilltop is a tower known as a 'folly.' This one got leveled during WWII (and subsequently rebuilt) by German bombers that used it as a guide point for attacking the ordinance factory in Pontypool; a factory still in operation today.

The stress placed upon truck brakes in both greater and different in tractor-trailer configurations versus solo tractor operation.

This flatbed configuration got loaded out to 38 tons for Meritor's Pontypool braking demonstration.