Class-8 Heavy Truck Duty Cycle Project Final Report - Center for ...

performance of their next generation single tires against the standard dual tires used by most of the
industry. Because of the energy efficiency aspect of their research interest, Michelin’s collaboration
on this project was endorsed by DOE. For the pilot test, Michelin provided a full set of new
generation single tires for the tractor-trailer, provided a full set of the standard dual tires, and
provided the use of a V-Box data collection system at no charge to the project. Data on fuel
consumption and associated parameters would be shared with Michelin. A verbal agreement to
participate as a partner in the HVDC project was provided by Ibrahim Janajreh of Michelin in
January 2005.
3.3.1.2 USDOT/FMCSA/NHTSA and Virginia Tech Interactions: As the project kicked off in
January 2005, ORNL re-contacted FMCSA to assess interest in participating in the HVDC project.
Although interested, FMCSA, as well as other USDOT agencies were still in a continuing budget
resolution, and had been since October 2003. No firm commitment was received from FMCSA. A
request was made by FMCSA to keep them informed about the HVDC efforts, and to start a
dialogue with Virginia Tech who had conducted some naturalistic driving efforts for FMCSA in the
past. Also requested was that ORNL re-communicate with FMCSA after the pilot test ended and
before the field test was to be initiated.
Rich Hanowski of Virginia Tech was contacted in 2004 regarding the HVDC pilot test; but because
of their lack of funding, no firm commitments were made.
As suggested by FMCSA, ORNL kept FMCSA aware of progress during the pilot test, and initiated
discussions with representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
(Duane Perrin, Jim Britell and Tim Johnson). In late fall-2005, as the HVDC pilot testing was
underway, ORNL arranged a meeting with both FMCSA (Jeff Loftus and Luke Loy) and NHTSA
(Tim Johnson and Jim Britell) to discuss HVDC progress and explore interest in the field testing
effort. The meetings were held in early December 2005. Again, interest was expressed, but no
commitments were made. Additional interactions were pursued in winter, 2005; again, with no
commitments made. The window for USDOT participation is closing due to the need to finalize
field test instrumentation in March, 2006.
In February, 2006, ORNL contacted Ms. Debbie Freund (FMCSA) and Mr. Bob Carroll (FMCSA)
who have been working in the areas of tire inflation systems and driver fatigue/naturalistic driving,
respectively. No feedback about joint efforts has been received.
3.3.1.3 Kick-Off Meeting: A Project kick-off meeting was held at Michelin’s Research Center in
Greenville SC on February 7, 2005. Representatives from Michelin, Dana and ORNL were present.
Representatives from ANL and Virginia Tech participated via a conference-call. The meeting went
very well with all representatives extremely excited about this work. An initial list of sensors and
duty cycle parameters was produced.
3.3.1.4 Memorandums of Agreement: ORNL drafted memorandums of agreement (MOAs) between
ORNL and Dana, and ORNL and Michelin, respectively in February, 2005. Copies were forwarded
to Dana and Michelin, and a small number of suggested changes were made and finalized in March,
2005. The MOAs were sent to ORNL contracts in April, 2005 and although these documents were
not considered to be legally binding, ORNL’s contracts office was unable to help project staff
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