May is turning into a month of milestones for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems.
Just two days after announcing registered users of its online brake service training portal reached 40,000, the company announced Wednesday that it has now delivered more than 450,000 Bendix ESP electronic stability program systems.
The achievement reflects the market’s continued drive to adopt full-stability technology, and reinforces Bendix’s position as an industry leader in the technology, the company says.
“Since its launch more than a decade ago, Bendix ESP has not only been rigorously tested, it has also proven its reliability over many millions of miles in the real world. The system has earned the trust of the ever-increasing number of fleets, truck manufacturers, and drivers who turn to it,” says Scott Burkhart, Bendix vice president – sales, marketing, and business development. “We hear again and again from fleets how the technology rewards their businesses in terms of safety, performance, and value. They see firsthand the loss-of-control and rollover mitigation, along with the ROI benefits, and they come away as believers.”
Bendix introduced Bendix ESP in 2005. It was the first full-stability solution widely available for the commercial vehicle market. Bendix ESP took six years to reach 100,000 units sold, but that mark was tripled in the subsequent three-year period as OEMs and fleets sought the technology, Bendix reported.
The company recently completed its 16th year of winter testing of commercial vehicle full-stability systems, giving it more experience than any other manufacturer in the industry and solidifying its position as the market leader in full-stability technology for tractor-trailers, trucks, and motorcoaches.
Bendix ESP fully meets the new stability mandate of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which in June 2015 published its final rule requiring ESC (Electronic Stability Control) technology – known as full stability – on Class 7 and Class 8 truck tractors and motorcoaches with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 11,793 kilograms (26,000 lbs.). NHTSA will implement the mandate in three phases: starting August 1, 2017, for Class 7 and 8 6×4 tractors – a majority of today’s tractors; June 24, 2018, for Class 8 buses; and August 1, 2019, for most remaining Class 7 and 8 highway tractor and motorcoach applications.
For its stability mandate, NHTSA chose ESC over RSC (Roll Stability Control), or roll-only technology. Fred Andersky, Bendix director of government and industry affairs, emphasizes that Bendix always prefers to let the market be the catalyst to drive safety technology. The company applauds NHTSA’s decision, and believes ESC is the superior choice for safety, performance, and value.
“The benefits of full stability will be experienced industry-wide as NHTSA’s mandate is implemented, which will help to improve highway safety even further. In the future, we expect NHTSA will address stability on medium-duty vehicles as well,” Andersky says.
