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December 8, 1999 11:12 AM, EST

As many as 100 combination vehicles will be on the roads this winter testing antilock braking systems equipped with the controversial PLC4Trucks integrated circuit chip. Developers hope this will help establish the reliability of the device, which is supposed to activate an in-cab warning light if a trailer’s ABS malfunctions.

	An integrated circuit controlled by a computer chip was adapted to the standard 7-pin connector between the tractor and trailer to avoid adding a separate cable for the in-cab ABS warning light.

The winter testing should calm fleet managers who are worried that the device is not being tested thoroughly and that the industry will miss a federal deadline for the warning light.

The evaluation constitutes PLC4Trucks’ second season of testing, part of an understanding made when the PLC consortium got the blessing of organized truck maintenance managers. Some managers wonder if it will be enough and say they are frustrated that the consortium — comprised of companies that use the technology in their ABS-related components — has not kept them informed of progress.

Meanwhile, engineers have been unable to suppress electrical interference from other devices aboard a trailer, and those systems will have to “light the light” on their own.

For the full story, see the Dec. 6 print edition of Transport Topics. .