CEO: Bendix must educate drivers of older rigs about replacement safety technology

Bendix president and CEO Joe McAleese addresses the media at the Mid-America Trucking Show at Louisville, Ky. (The Trucker/Lyndon Finney)

By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff

3/26/2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At the same time his company is promoting the development of new safety products for the trucking industry, Bendix Commercial Vehicles Systems also has a responsibility to those who drive older models that do no have features such as, but not limited to, stability systems and adaptive cruise control, Joe McAleese said here today.

“Some of these [new] technologies can be retrofitted, but most of them can’t be,” McAleese, president and CEO of Bendix,  told The Trucker. “You’re not going to retrofit a vehicle with disc brakes and you’re not going to retro fit a vehicle with a stability system. So I think the most important thing that we can do is have our products for replacement in the aftermarket and make sure we educate people on the difference between genuine and counterfeit products, particularly some of the knock offs and counterfeit products coming from overseas.”

A recent informal survey on TheTrucker.com showed that almost 40 percent of the almost 350 truckers responded showed that 39.2 percent drove a 2000 model or older and well over half drove models 2004 or older.

Most of the newer safety technology systems began being integrated into OEM models in mid-decade. At first, most were placed on trucks as an option, but it is more common today to find the new technology standard on many models.

McAleese, who is also chairman of the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association, said within five years he felt a prominence of new vehicles would be built with stability systems and he was pleased with what he saw in the industry.

“For some of these advance safety systems, the acceptance has been a little more rapid than I anticipated,” he said.

For additional coverage of this story, as well as other MATS news, events and photos, please read the April 15 edition of The Trucker.