It's a Team's Life
Meritor Wabco OnGuard Collision Safety System
Our truck is equipped with this and a few more items that are included with the system.
CWS - Collision Warning System
ACC - Adaptive Cruise Control
CMS - Collision Mitigation System
The OnGuard system is not intended to replace the driver only to aid the driver, we are still in the drivers seat and responsible for our actions. With that being said I have found the On Guard to be a nice addition to our plethora of safety gadgets.
My first experience with the OnGuard was leaving Dallas, I found to my consternation that I was in accordion style traffic and I was pleased that the system performed outstanding. It was amazing to me how the engine brake and foundation brake where applied to assist me at keeping a safe following distance. OnGuard's Active Braking automatically de-throttles the engine and applies the engine retarder and foundation brakes to provide up to .35Gs of braking power.
The screen is easy to read and is color coded, if blue we are by ourselves on the highway our cruise speed is displayed, if green there is a lead vehicle detected and the screen will show their speed, yellow is a following distance alert, and if red there is a collision warning.
There is a learning curve to using this system as our speed is automatically adjusted if we are following another vehicle, sometimes this is good and sometimes it is not beneficial. My first experience with this was on a two lane highway and a car entered the roadway and the truck slowly reduced my speed to continue following. I continued to drive and enjoy a beautiful day and then looked down and realized my speed was a slow 51 MPH as I leisurely followed the car in the lead. In order for the truck to pick back up to my set cruise speed I turned on the turn signal, stepped out into the passing lane, and the truck picked up to my set cruise speed.
Where the OnGuard system can be tricky is when a vehicle cuts in front of us heading for an off ramp as the system immediately senses the vehicle in our safe following distance. Immediately OnGuard applies the maximum force the system is capable of to get us into a safe following distance. The vehicle though is just passing through our safe area and will continue on while the OnGuard has slowed us down and now will realize there is nothing there and speed us back up. This can be rather interesting to the driver as we realize what the other vehicle is doing and normally would not do anything. Another area that we have to watch is when we are following a semi truck that is lumbering up a steep mountain grade and we are able to maintain our speed, we have to be aware of following distances and move over into the passing lane before the system cuts our speed back for following to close. What the OnGuard system does is highlight other vehicles dangerous driving habits and act accordingly. We can immediately react to this and touch our brakes to disable the CWS.
If we are driving below 15 mph the system is shut down.
In adverse weather or if the roads are wet,
icy, or snow packed keep the cruise turned off.
The OnGuard is another tool in our arsenal
of safety equipment to assist us in finishing every day in a safe and
controlled manner.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
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