ELYRIA, Ohio - TXI uses concrete mixers and other commercial trucks that can at times become very unstable and prone to rollovers. Because of this, and its commitment to a safety program, TXI was looking to add technology to its fleet of vehicles to improve highway safety.

After witnessing the safety features of Bendix ESP Electronic Stability Program at a live Ride and Drive event hosted by Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, TXI decided recently to add the full-stability technology as standard on all of the fleet's trucks, becoming one of the first vocational fleets in the country to do so.

The Bendix ABS-6 Advanced with ESP is the first and only ABS-based electronic-stability system that delivers full stability in the widest variety of driving situations and road conditions. This includes roll protection on dry, high-friction surfaces, and directional (yaw) stability to help mitigate slides, skids, spins, and jackknives on wet, slippery, or otherwise low-friction surfaces.

With more than 25,000 ESP systems already sold across North America, the partnership with TXI will extend the technology's penetration in the commercial vehicle market.

Unlike roll-only options that operate optimally on dry surfaces, full-stability systems, such as Bendix ESP, effectively address the widest range of driving and road conditions, including snow, ice, and slippery surfaces. These systems are capable of recognizing factors that could lead to truck rollovers and loss of control, typically faster than a driver can. The technology automatically intervenes in dangerous and threatening situations by de-throttling the engine and selectively applying the vehicle brakes to decrease incident risk and loss of control. According to the Report to Congress on the Large Truck Crash Causation Study, an estimated 28.6 percent of commercial vehicle accidents are caused by a "loss-of-control factor," which can include sliding or skidding on wet, snow, or ice-covered surfaces - situations that roll-only stability systems are not equipped to address.