Daimler India CV has voluntarily updated its heavy mining and construction truck cabs to ECE R29-03 safety standards and a step ahead of AIS-029 in India; They ensure higher levels of driver safety and are mandatory in many European countries.
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), which recently introduced its high-performance construction and mining trucks at BAUMA Conexpo in Bengaluru in January 2023, has reinforced its commitment to vehicle safety at its truck and bus shows.
The Chennai-based company has voluntarily upgraded the cabs of its mining and construction trucks to ECE R29-03 safety standards, which is a step ahead of the AIS-029 standards prevailing in the country. While the move is driven by the aim of enhancing driver and vehicle safety on Indian roads, it also enables the company to export its products to several markets in Europe, where heavy trucks must comply with regulations equivalent to ECE R29-03. Standards.
What is ECE R29-03 standard?
While the original equipment manufacturer must perform three crash tests — the pendulum (for frontal or frontal crashes), the roof strength test, and the rear wall test (for payload) — under the AIS-029 cabin crash test standards, the upgraded standards include two additional tests. – A-pillar test and side angle test – to ensure the safety of passengers during a rollover.
ECE R29-03 standards also maximize the loads applied to crush the cabin during crash testing, while A-pillar and side angle testing ensures structural integrity during a rollover situation. While the AIS-029 crash test standards focus on the lower half of the truck cab, which is made up of steel, the ECE R29-03 crash test standards focus on the upper half of the cab which contains primarily glass and windshields, thus making it extremely difficult for manufacturers to Original equipment improve its strength.
DICV has upgraded the cabins in its latest trucks to comply with ECE R29-03, in line with European regulations, and says the purpose of this exercise is to ensure higher levels of driver safety on the roads.
LR: Pradeep Kumar, Vice President (Product Engineering), DICV and Rajaram Krishnamurthy, Vice President (Marketing, Sales and Customer Service) of BharatBenz Construction and Mining Dumper with ECE R29-03 compliant cab.
Speaking to Autocar Professional, Pradeep T, Vice President of Product Engineering at DICV, said: “Safety is a key milestone in our design philosophy, and the new products meet the latest crash standards for heavy-duty truck cabs, including rollover protection. This is a big step forward.” In our commitment to provide our customers in the Indian market with advanced and reliable products, we will continue to introduce a greater number of safety features in our DICV products.
“ECE R29-03 compliance is now standard fitment on all our trucks because we wanted to provide the driver with a safer workplace on the road. This process was not driven by a cost or volume perspective. We focus a lot on safety,” Pradeep T told Autocar Professional. And driver comfort.”
“The customer also sees value in the total cost of ownership as the truck’s higher acquisition cost reduces the risk of an accident due to driver fatigue. Every accident avoided on Indian roads will create tremendous value for the economy,” he stressed.
Truck braking safety features
The updated DICV trucks, which are sold in India under the brand name ‘BharatBenz’, have been designed and developed locally at the company’s integrated R&D center in Chennai, with support from Daimler’s global centers of excellence. The company reiterates that safety is its main priority and will now introduce Electronic Stability Control or ESC from April in DICV buses as part of the upcoming regulations.
“There are also discussions to implement autonomous emergency braking or AEB in trucks whose regulations are currently at the draft stage, but it is expected to come up in the high-speed truck and bus segment to significantly reduce the chances of accidents on Indian roads.
“There are two ways to deliver safety technologies in vehicles. First, one can be ahead of the regulations, and second, offer more than what the standards require. At DICV, we will choose what makes the most sense for our customers, because sometimes, being ahead of the regulations may not help either.” “So, based on the desired application of the vehicle and its features, we will decide where we want to be ahead and where we are better than the regulations,” Pradeep T said.
DICV research reveals that a number of truck drivers in India suffer from hearing impairment due to constant driving with their windows open. The air-conditioned cabin reduces NVH levels and also improves aerodynamics.
More than 50% of DICV trucks are sold with air-conditioned cabs
The company is also noticing a significant increase in the purchase of AC-equipped truck cabins in India, where more than half of the demand for AC trucks comes from. “Since we started operations over 10 years ago, the purchase of AC cabs has increased significantly and today, the proportion of AC-equipped vans we sell is nearly 50 percent of our total volumes. What we have noticed is that there is a significant shift in customer psychology as well.
“It is a myth that AC trucks consume more fuel. On the contrary, when the cabin window is raised, it improves the aerodynamics of the vehicle and, more importantly, ensures that the driver’s body temperature remains stable, keeping the level of alertness significantly high.” While we have an air conditioning option across our entire range, on some models we only sell air conditioned trucks.
DICV research revealed that a number of truck drivers in India suffer from hearing impairment, especially in their right ears. In most cases, drivers drive continuously with their windows open for about eight hours, explains Pradeep T. “So, with an air-conditioned cabin, the noise and vibration (NVH) level is lower, and since there is no wind gust, it helps in keeping the driver’s health in better condition,” he says.
While the company aims to continually improve the safety of its products, DICV is also looking to introduce automatic transmissions again in its trucks in the country, as an added benefit for driver comfort, convenience and fatigue reduction. “We offer automatic transmission in the trucks we export. While we have had AMT in some products for sale in India in the past, we will continue to bring such technologies to the Indian market. This will be a move that will be greatly appreciated by dozens of truck drivers, champions The unknowns of the Indian economy.
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