Record-breaking temperatures are sweeping across North America this summer, and Freightliner's "Summer Test" trucks are out in the hottest, most humid, and highest altitude locations in the country,
putting their performance capabilities to the test.
Each year, Freightliner LLC's "Summer Test" convoy of Freightliner, Sterling, and Western Star trucks, as well as Thomas Built Buses, is sent to the harshest environments in the United States for extreme performance testing.
This year's convoy faces long, grueling days of 120-degree F temperatures in the Death Valley area of Nevada; 12,000-foot altitudes and severe mountainous grades in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado; and 95 percent humidity in the Galveston, Texas, area.
"We outfit each vehicle with a host of on-board computers and instrumentation equipment that measure multiple areas of vehicle performance including temperatures, pressures, strains, component interaction, and powertrain and engine operation," said Ramin Younessi, chief engineer of test engineering, Freightliner LLC. "Then we push the trucks to the limit. The three test sites in Nevada, Colorado, and Texas provide some of the most demanding summer environments in the
country. We run the vehicles all day, in the scorching heat, up and down 10-mile climbs, steep grades, and high altitudes."
"A talented team of our engineers that handle the engineering for our Series 60 and Mercedes-Benz engines – the MBE 4000 and MBE 900 – are participating in these important performance trials, leading the effort in testing and data collection," said Walter Puetz, senior vice president of engineering for Detroit Diesel Corp. "We are working very closely with Freightliner Test Engineering to ensure that we offer the best and most fully-integrated product."
Along with new EPA '07 Detroit Diesel Series 60 and MBE 4000 and 900 diesel engines, the test trucks are equipped with Caterpillar C13 and C15, and Cummins ISB and ISC '07 diesel engines.
"Although we already have logged more than five million test miles on other EPA '07 trucks, we're really putting them to the test in these extreme situations," added Al Pearson, director of vehicle test group.