ROCHESTER, Mich. — Meritor Wabco’s electronic stability control (ESC) has gotten smarter.

The company showcased this week a new “self-learning, drive-it-away” ESCsmart system.

It responds to the changing performance characteristics of a vehicle over time without requiring future calibrations once the truck leaves the assembly plant, officials said.

As a result, the new system always performs optimally through the life of the vehicle. It also reduces system maintenance by eliminating the need for recalibrations, even after wheel alignments or when an ECU is replaced in the field.

The new and improved ESC system from Meritor Wabco will be available in 2014.

“We continually look at ways to improve base technology so that we can offer the industry more value. ESCsmart is a significant step in the evolution of electronic stability control,” said Jon Morrison, president and general manager, Meritor Wabco. “The technology advancements with self-learning will not only help save manufacturers time and cost in the validation and application process, but fleets can reduce down time due to the need for reprogramming the ECU every time they have a truck and/or trailer configuration change.”

Meritor Wabco currently has more than 150,000 stability systems deployed across North America. During a recent demonstration, Alan Korn, director, advanced brake systems integration with Meritor Wabco, said the company’s ESC system has a 100% re-order rate. The system is available on trucks built by Daimler Trucks North America, Paccar and Navistar.

A University of Michigan Transport Research Institute study has found that electronic stability control can reduce rollover crashes by 50% while eliminating 25% of loss-of-control accidents.