Understanding these risks is an important step in the battle to end tampering.
Tampering with a heavy-duty truck can bring down everyone involved. There is no reward available that makes it worth the risk, the EPA says.
Class 8 truck engines are immensely intricate pieces of equipment. They aren’t designed to be altered.
“Today’s engines are very complex machines with specific calibration requirements,” says Brad Williamson, manager, engine and component marketing for Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA). “Modern engines with OE calibrations achieve better fuel economy and burn cleaner than older designs. Manipulating these systems in any way can have a negative and costly impact on component life.”
Savage says that’s the type of information his task force is trying to distribute. The best way to eliminate tampering is to prove it’s harmful.
HOW DID I GET HERE? Here’s Part I of our special section on tampering.
And as today’s fuel economy numbers indicate, new trucks operating with emission controls are still incredibly efficient. Trucks are running cleaner and longer than ever before, and emission systems are among the reasons for that. Tampering doesn’t suddenly create the ultimate engine. It’s an illegal action that improves one aspect of performance at the expense of everything else.
