Are Your Brakes up to Snuff?

Stability control and collision mitigation systems depend on a fully functioning brake system set to OEM specs. Photo: Meritor Wabco

With all the advantages provided by today's advanced safety systems, what a shame it would be if they couldn't live up to their potential because of poorly maintained foundation brakes or inadequate friction material.

Stability control systems, for example, use a variety of sensor inputs to figure out what's going on and then use various algorithms to trigger an intervention to mitigate or prevent a rollover or loss of control event. The system will command the brakes to deliver as much power as is needed to change the outcome of the situation — but if the brakes aren't operating as designed, the outcome might not be as you expected.

“By not paying attention to the fundamentals, you're putting at risk the money you invested in those advanced safety systems,” says Fred Andersky, director of customer solutions and marketing, controls division, at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems. “Your advanced safety system may not be able to help when you need it most.”

Advanced safety systems, including electronic stability control, roll stability, or the more comprehensive systems such as Bendix's Wingman Advanced or Wingman Fusion, Meritor Wabco's OnGuard or Daimler's Detroit Assurance, are all engineered around a braking system that's in showroom condition. The systems can tolerate normal wear and tear, component degradation, etc., but they can't function as intended if parts are seized, out of adjustment or missing, any more than they can cope with bad electrical connections, corroded wires or a bad air supply.

There's not enough room here to go into everything that can go wrong at the wheel-end with foundation brakes. We all know what those problems are, but it's important to note that they can inhibit performance of your safety system.

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Logo via BRIDGE Act Summary

While details on President Trump's $1 trillion Infrastructure plan may still be weeks away, two senators, Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), have introduced a bipartisan infrastructure funding plan.

The Building and Renewing Infrastructure for Development and Growth in Employment (BRIDGE) Act is designed to address a national investment shortfall in maintaining and improving the transportation network. The plan seeks to provide a financing tool to state and local governments and spur infrastructure projects and create new jobs.

“As we mark the fifth annual Infrastructure Week, we must think boldly and make real investments in our nation's infrastructure rather than kick the can down the road with short-term fixes,” said Sen. Warner in a press release. “The BRIDGE Act offers a bold, bipartisan solution to help address our infrastructure needs by incentivizing private investment and pairing it with public resources.”

The bill proposes establishing a financing authority – similar to a bank – called the Infrastructure Financing Authority, which would provide loans and loan guarantees to help state and local governments fund the most economically viable projects. The government would provide the bank with initial seed funding of up to $10 billion. This $10 billion could be used to make possible $300 billion or more in total project investment, according to the authors of the bill, and is structured to be self-sustaining over time, without requiring additional federal funding.

The IFA would be a government-owned entity that would operate independently of any federal agency, according to a BRIDGE Act Summary. It would be led by a chief executive officer and board of directors consisting of seven voting members appointed by the executive and legislative branches of government.

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