Say goodbye to 'dangerous' situations—do you have these assistive features?

Truck drivers have always been considered to work in a high-risk industry. Trucks are large, heavily loaded, and have many blind spots, making traffic accidents easy to occur with even a slight lapse in attention. This is especially true for truck drivers who frequently run long-haul routes and pursue high efficiency. On highways, they drive at high speeds for long hours, which significantly increases the likelihood of fatigue driving. If a truck weighing tens of tons were to collide with another vehicle at high speed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Against this backdrop, the emergence of various active safety driving assistance systems can be said to further reduce the likelihood of traffic accidents, while also greatly ensuring the safety of truck drivers on the road. So, what are the mainstream safety features currently available on heavy trucks? Next, let's take a closer look. 

▎Braking System Safer and More Efficient Brakes

For truck drivers, the quality of the braking system and the vehicle stability system directly affects vehicle safety. Any carelessness could lead to skidding, rollover, or even brake failure. In terms of braking systems, we commonly have the ABS anti-lock braking system, EBS electronic braking system, and EBD electronic brakeforce distribution. So what are the differences between these systems, and what roles do they play?
 

ABS Anti-lock Braking System: Currently, commercial vehicles ranging from mini trucks, light trucks, to medium and heavy trucks, as well as tractor units, are required by relevant regulations to be equipped with ABS anti-lock braking systems. The ABS device mainly consists of wheel speed sensors, engine speed sensors, brake pressure regulators, solenoid valves, and the ABS electronic control unit (ECU), among other components.

During normal braking, although the ABS does not intervene, the entire system is constantly monitoring the wheel speed sensor signals to determine whether it needs to activate the anti-lock braking mode. When the driver brakes suddenly and any wheel is close to locking, the brake pressure modulator in the ABS system will continuously adjust the brake pressure in that wheel’s brake chamber according to the commands from the electronic control unit (ECU). As a result, you may feel the brake pedal pulsating upward. 

By continuously adjusting the air pressure to maintain the optimal pressure, the system effectively prevents the wheels from locking, allowing them to maintain continuous rolling friction with the road surface. While the ABS system improves tire grip on the road and shortens braking distance, the driver is still able to control the vehicle’s direction and change its path smoothly.

EBS Electronic Braking System: EBS not only includes all the functions of the original ABS, but also adds a series of electronic control modules to replace the mechanical transmission-controlled braking system. Simply put, it uses electricity to control the air needed for vehicle braking. This not only improves operational efficiency but also allows for additional functions to be developed, such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC or ESP), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Roll Stability Control (RSC), Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR), Hill Start Assist (HSA), and more. 

The EBS system mainly consists of components such as the central ECU, brake signal transmitter, front axle module, trailer control valve, and rear axle pressure backup valve. Therefore, this system is not just about improving braking performance; it can be considered a complete modular platform capable of supporting a wide range of additional features.

Compared to ABS, the EBS electronically controlled air brake has a faster and more responsive brake response time and pressure build-up, with almost no delay, significantly improving braking performance and shortening braking distance. At the same time, when both the tractor and trailer are equipped with EBS, they can achieve better consistency and braking balance, reducing the occurrence of jackknifing. In addition, other auxiliary functions derived from the EBS electronic braking system can effectively prevent situations such as vehicle rollover or skidding, further enhancing driving safety.

▎ Improve driving stability and reduce skidding

In addition to having an excellent braking system, active safety control systems that ensure handling stability are also indispensable. For example, the ESC electronic stability control system, ASR traction control system, and TPMS tire pressure monitoring system—what roles do they play?

ESC Electronic Stability Control System: The ESC system is mainly composed of three parts: sensors, an electronic control unit (ECU), and actuators. The ECU monitors the vehicle's operating status, and if it detects situations such as skidding or slipping, it intervenes to control the vehicle's longitudinal and lateral stability and applies braking to the corresponding wheels, in order to achieve steering stability and prevent rollover.

The main advantage of the EBS electronic braking system is its rapid and precise response, which can effectively improve braking performance, shorten braking distance, and enable various additional functions. In contrast, ESC enhances vehicle handling and cornering stability. When these two electronic systems, ESC and EBS, are combined, they can monitor the vehicle's operating status in real time, achieving stronger braking efficiency while effectively preventing rollover due to oversteering and avoiding loss of control at the dynamic limits. 

A common example is when we make an emergency stop on a slippery road and turn the steering wheel to avoid an obstacle ahead. The EBS can adjust the braking pressure on each wheel in real time, ensuring the vehicle achieves efficient braking performance. At the same time, when the ESC system engages, it uses sensors to apply targeted braking to specific wheels, keeping the vehicle within a controllable range. In this situation, even if the steering wheel is turned sharply, the vehicle is unlikely to roll over.

ASR-Driven Anti-Slip System: Many heavy trucks may experience driver wheel slippage when driving on harsh mountain roads, slippery muddy roads, or unpaved surfaces, which is especially noticeable for high-powered models during startup or acceleration. The ASR system can calculate the slip rate of the drive wheels through wheel speed sensors and the ECU to reduce driving force, thereby preventing the driving force from exceeding the tire-road adhesion and avoiding wheel spin, thus maintaining vehicle directional stability and starting capability.

The ASR system mainly focuses on controlling wheel slip of the drive wheels to achieve anti-slip traction, allowing the vehicle to maintain a certain level of off-road recovery ability under harsh conditions.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System: Proper and normal tire pressure not only ensures driving safety, but also provides comfort, fuel efficiency, and prolongs tire life. Currently, the more common tire pressure monitoring system involves installing electronic pressure sensors in each tire. By recording pressure data, it monitors various conditions of the tires in real time, accurately pinpointing any faulty tires. 

Nowadays, more and more high-end mainstream heavy trucks are equipped with this feature. Everyone knows the critical role tires play in vehicle safety. If a tire blows out at high speed, even a slight mistake by the driver can have disastrous consequences.

▎Driver Assistance: Enhancing Comfort and Safety

With an efficient braking system and an excellent vehicle stability system in place, what technologies do high-end heavy trucks use in terms of intelligent driver assistance? What kind of driving protection can they provide for truck drivers?

ACC Adaptive Cruise Control System: The ACC system mainly consists of radar sensors, digital signal processors, and control modules, among other hardware and software. It is a function developed based on the EBS electronic braking system. Simply put, it is a high-end version of cruise control, but smarter.

The millimeter-wave radar on the vehicle is mainly used to detect and identify vehicles ahead. By emitting radar waves, it calculates the distance and speed between the vehicle and the vehicle in front, and then sends this information back to the ECU system. Upon receiving this data, the EBS electronic control system issues commands to control braking. In addition, the front camera of the vehicle has extensive recognition capabilities and works in conjunction with the millimeter-wave radar to achieve better assistance.
 

Compared to a regular cruise control system, the ACC system is considerably smarter. When using this system, you only need to set the following distance or speed relative to the vehicle ahead, and then focus on steering. The system will automatically adjust your vehicle's speed according to the speed of the car in front, without exceeding the preset cruise speed. When the vehicle ahead moves away, the system will resume cruising at the set target speed.

In the current driving situation, if the adaptive cruise control system cannot achieve an effective deceleration, it will automatically alert the driver. At this point, the driver can take over the vehicle and apply strong braking or other evasive actions to avoid a collision.

AEBS Automatic Emergency Braking Control System: We can completely consider this system as an extension of the collision warning system, or as a functional expansion of ACC adaptive cruise control. It is implemented through ultrasonic sensors, millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR, and cameras. When the sensors detect an obstacle ahead, the ECU combines the returned data and calculates the probability of a collision using algorithms, then performs deceleration and braking through the EBS system. 

Unlike the collision warning system, the AEBS system actively intervenes in braking. It’s important to understand that when a collision is imminent, the time left for the driver to react is actually very limited. If, after the collision warning alert, the driver still takes no braking action, the AEBS system will actively intervene and apply automatic braking to prevent the collision.

In addition, at this year's Hanover Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz trucks showcased PPC (Predictive Powertrain Control), ABA 5 (5th generation Active Brake Assist), Sideguard Assist S1X (side collision prevention system), ADA 2 (2nd generation Active Driving Assistance), and other driver assistance features that can further enhance driving safety for truck drivers in daily operations. 

● Editor’s Note:

With the continuous iteration and update of commercial vehicle technologies, various active safety driving assistance systems have started to become standard on domestically produced high-end heavy trucks. Through these advanced technological means, not only can unknown safety risks be predicted in advance and warnings issued to the driver, but in emergency situations, active intervention can also be carried out to ensure the driver’s safety.

Of course, as the service station technical engineers mentioned before, even if your tractor is equipped with top-of-the-line features, if the trailer is old and worn out and cannot match the tractor’s configuration, many of these functions may not work to their full potential and could even cause compatibility issues between the tractor and trailer, affecting driving safety.

While these technological features can improve driving safety, the steering wheel and accelerator are always in your hands. Safe driving remains an evergreen topic. Fellow truck drivers, what high-end features do your vehicles have? Feel free to leave your comments and share your experiences.