Volvo Trucks North America will partner with the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University in a 2 1/2-year program that will demonstrate heavy-duty truck mobile idle reduction technology (MIRT) systems.
As part of the program, Volvo says it will engineer a cost-effective installation prep kit for MIRTs. The goal is to design a kit that will be installed by Volvo during assembly of the truck, and will be compatible with a number of different MIRTs. Volvo also will verify the MIRT connection to the truck’s shore power system.
Volvo has agreed to install the prep kits in at least 20 trucks and to assist NCSU in obtaining data on operator and fleet usage of the MIRTs during the program. Volvo’s proprietary Volvo Link two-way satellite communications system will be used for some of the data acquisition.
The program is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the SmartWay Transport Partnership. Volvo also will recruit customer fleets to participate in the program and encourage those fleets to join EPA’s SmartWay campaign.
