HORSEPOWER CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRUCKS AND TRUCK COMBINATIONS

IN HOUSE DOCUMENT NO. 354, "MAXIMUM DESIRABLE DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHTS OF VEHICLES OPERATED ON THE FEDERAL-AID SYSTEMS," THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE RECOMMENDED A LIBERALIZATION OF FEDERAL VEHICLE WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS WHICH HAD BEEN IMPOSED ON STATE GOVERNMENTS IN 1956, AND SUGGESTED NEW STANDARDS FOR ADOPTION IN 1967. AMONG THESE WAS A RECOMMENDATION THAT "A MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STANDARD SPECIFYING A RATIO OF GROSS WEIGHT OF THE VEHICLE TO THE NET HORSEPOWER OF ITS ENGINE AVAILABLE FOR MOVEMENT OF THE VEHICLE" BE ESTABLISHED. RECOGNIZING THAT ONE OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF LONGER AND HEAVIER TRUCK COMBINATIONS IS THAT MORE POWERFUL ENGINES COULD BE REQUIRED IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN HILL-CLIMBING AND ACCELERATING PERFORMANCE LEVELS ON A PAR WITH EXISTING LEGALLY LIMITED LARGE TRUCKS, WESTERN HIGHWAY INSTITUTE'S SUBCOMMITTEE ON POWER AND TRACTION HAS ASSESSED NOT ONLY THE PERFORMANCE OF CURRENT TRUCKS AND TRUCK COMBINATIONS BUT ALSO THE ADEQUACY OF THEIR PERFORMANCE BASED ON EXISTING LEGAL STANDARDS. IN ADDITION, AN ASSESSMENT HAS BEEN MADE OF POSSIBLE FUTURE HORSEPOWER REQUIREMENTS FOR CURRENT VEHICLES AS WELL AS FOR THE INCREASED SIZES AND WEIGHTS PROPOSED IN HOUSE DOCUMENT NO. 354. ANTICIPATING THAT POWER PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR TRUCKS AND TRUCK COMBINATIONS MAY BECOME INCREASINGLY PREVALENT AT BOTH STATE AND NATIONAL LEVELS, THE SUBCOMMITTEE LOOKED INTO THE EFFECTS ON HORSEPOWER REQUIREMENTS WHICH WOULD RESULT FROM VARIOUS POSSIBLE METHODS OF REGULATING AND ENFORCING SUCH PERFORMANCE CRITERIA. THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY ARE MOST SIGNIFICANT. THE PRESENT VOLUME SHOULD HELP CLARIFY SOME OF THE CONFUSTION WHICH EXISTS RELATIVE TO THE RELATIONSHIPS OF POWER TO OTHER PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS TRACTION, SPEED, AND ACCELERATION. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Res Comm RePT NO 2, 161 PP, TABS, PHOTS
• Corporate Authors:

  Western Highway Institute

  San Francisco, CA  United States 
• Publication Date: 1969-10

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Engines; Horsepower; Regulation; Size and weight regulations; Trucks; Vehicle performance; Vehicle weight
• Old TRIS Terms: Truck engines; Truck performance
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223455
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 29 1971 12:00AM