A Truck Rollover Warning System – Preliminary Results

This paper describes a test-and-evaluation project to evaluate the performance of a warning system to mitigate the risk of truck rollover. The warning system, which includes both on-board instrumentation and cooperative infrastructure elements, has been deployed since early this year. The test fleet consists of three tractors and six trailers which run a dedicated route that includes all of I-75 in Tennessee. The project is a public-private joint venture led by trucking company U. S. Xpress Enterprises, and coordinated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Project objectives include testing of all components in a real-world, revenue-service environment, evaluation of the driver interface, and correlation of driver and vehicle behavior with highway geometry and functional characteristics. The warning system includes on-board instrumentation that measures the roll stability of the trailer continuously and determines the location and probable near-term path of the vehicle. In addition, roadside beacons at selected curves on I-75 broadcast characteristics of the selected curves. Receivers on the trucks accept curve data, and an on-board computer estimates rollover risk based on roll stability, vehicle speed and acceleration, and the lateral acceleration demand of the upcoming curve. If estimated rollover risk exceeds a trucking-company-specified threshold, visible and audible warnings are presented to the driver in time for corrective action to avoid rollover. “This submitted manuscript has been authored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under contract No. DE-AC05-96OR22464. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.