FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., (March 19, 2004) — Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems’ Roll Stability Control (RSC) for trucks has won the 2003 Technical Achievement Award as determined by the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA).

TWNA president Rolf Lockwood, who is the full-time editorial director for Today’s Trucking and highwaySTAR magazines, presented the award to Richard Romer, director of electronic products for Meritor WABCO — a joint venture of ArvinMeritor and the WABCO Automotive Products Group of American Standard Companies — at the winter meeting of the Technology and Maintenance Council yesterday.

The winning system is designed to provide intervention to help prevent a rollover situation by focusing on a truck’s centre of gravity and the lateral acceleration limit or rollover threshold. When that limit is reached, the system intervenes to slow the vehicle by controlling the engine retarder and automatically activating the drive axle and trailer brakes. An accelerometer mounted directly to the anti-lock braking system (ABS) electronic control unit (ECU) monitors the vehicle’s lateral acceleration, while RSC constantly monitors driving conditions and intervenes if critical lateral acceleration is detected.

The system can be integrated with existing anti-lock braking system componentry and is available through select original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

TWNA is a continental organization of professional journalists writing and reporting about trucks and trucking. The TWNA Technical Achievement Award recognizes significant new products and services to the commercial vehicle industry and has been presented for the last ten years. ArvinMeritor also received the award in 2001 for its ZF Meritor FreedomLine transmission.