{"id":12278,"date":"2021-09-03T17:10:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T15:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=12278"},"modified":"2021-09-03T17:10:01","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T15:10:01","slug":"semi-truck-rollovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/09\/03\/semi-truck-rollovers\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket scientists say they found the solution to semi-truck rollovers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Startup Axicle Engineering has a fifth-wheel prototype that its founder said can detect and detach a trailer from a Class 8 tractor before it rolls over, keeping the driver safe in the cab.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A team of trucking outsiders\u2014made up of rocket scientists and automotive engineers\u2014are working on a fifth-wheel solution to reduce the death and injuries caused by Class 8 truck and trailer rollovers on U.S. highways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Large truck rollovers killed more than 300 people in 2019. Another 9,000 people are injured in Class 8 truck rollovers in the U.S. each year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety<\/a> (IIHS).<\/span><\/p>\n

Mechanical engineer Steve Krug, a former Tesla engineer with a background in aerospace engineering, founded Axicle Engineering<\/a> to reduce highway deaths and injuries. His company\u2019s fifth-wheel tractor anti-roll system (TARS) senses a tractor-trailer rollover before it happens and detaches the trailer from the tractor, allowing it to roll over on its own while keeping the truck driver safe inside the cab.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur impression of the Axicle fifth-wheel prototype is that it is a game-changer for the transportation industry,\u201d Ryan Scott, a risk manager with Kysar Millenium Leavitt Insurance<\/a>, told FleetOwner<\/i>. \u201cIt can protect the two most important assets for a fleet owner: first and foremost, the driver, from potentially devastating injuries or loss of life from a turnover accident; secondly, the cab itself, which is an expensive item to replace or repair after a rollover accident.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Credit: Axicle Engineering<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"The<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>
The Axicle Engineering fifth-wheel tractor anti-rollover system prototype.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Krug was struggling to find a new job. He got together with some former Tesla colleagues who had worked on the Tesla Semi project. \u201cWe became aware that rollovers were an issue in the trucking industry and an unsolved problem,\u201d Krug told FleetOwner<\/i>. \u201cSo we just started brainstorming on how we could solve it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That brainstorming started with conceptualizing an entirely new design for tractor-trailers that would prevent rollovers. \u201cBut then we figured out that we could actually have a universal product that can be retrofitted or easily installed onto every single semi-truck that eliminates (rollovers) in the first place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Axicle\u2019s engineering team, which includes SpaceX and Tesla veterans, developed the Axicle fifth wheel, which uses a series of sensors to constantly monitor the roll angle and rate of the tractor. Krug said his algorithm could detect a trailer\u2019s threshold limits with 99.99% accuracy. And within 0.2 milliseconds of detecting a tractor rollover, the Axicle system sets off a controlled pyrotechnic actuator that opens the fifth wheel latch, decoupling the trailer from the truck, allowing it to tip over while the truck stays upright. A demonstration can be seen in this Axicle animation below:<\/span><\/p>\n

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