NATM Welcomes Tow Vehicle OEMs to Membership
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NATM Welcomes Tow Vehicle OEMs to Membership By Meghan Ryan, NATM Assistant Director
On July 1, NATM announced a new membership category: Tow Vehicle OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) for automotive manufacturers that build tow vehicles used to haul light- and medium-duty trailers. The Association has been committed to the light- and medium-duty trailer industry for more than 30 years with a focus on the manufacture of compliant trailers. Including tow vehicle OEMs as members is a natural next step in the evolution of NATM’s expanding trailer safety efforts.
The automotive industry is rapidly improving and expanding its smart technologies for autonomous driving and vehicle to vehicle (V2V), and vehicle to infrastructure (V2i) communication. V2V is the ability for vehicles to wirelessly communicate and exchange information, such as the speed and position of surrounding vehicles. The development and use of autonomous vehicles and V2i communication are beneficial for traffic safety as it reduces traffic accidents, traffic congestion, harmful emissions such as CO2, and fuel consumption.
Since the economic recession that started in 2008, registrations for light- and medium-duty trailers have steadily risen. The United States sees over one million new trailers registered every year. With the increase of trailer registrations comes an increase in new trailer owners on the roads and additional tow vehicles in use. Many of these trailers are from NATM compliant manufacturers, but it may not matter how safely a trailer is built if trailers are not considered by automotive manufacturers in the development and implementation of smart technologies on tow vehicles.
As these technologies develop it is crucial trailers are taken into consideration. Communication links between trailers and tow vehicles will need to be improved as the industry moves toward a more automated future. For example, vehicles need to be able to identify the presence of a trailer and its length. It is also important for tow vehicle OEMs to understand the cost limitations of installing these technologies on trailers as trailers have a much smaller profit margin than other motor vehicles. Additionally, NATM is encouraging these companies to participate in the NATM Technology Committee. The committee’s purpose is to coordinate communication between tow vehicle manufacturers, component manufacturers, and trailer manufacturers to better ensure that the technologies implemented are functional for all parties involved. To learn more about the NATM Technology Committee, contact NATM Technical Director Terry Jones at Terry.Jones@natm.com.
NATM is inviting tow vehicle OEMs to join the efforts of the Association in ensuring tow vehicles, trailers, and components all work together as seamlessly as possible. NATM is already working with one tow vehicle manufacturer, but the Association wants to make sure that its work integrates as many tow vehicle manufacturers as possible and is welcoming all applicable automotive manufacturers to join. National Trailer Registrations
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July/August 2021
www.NATM.com
