$4m deal for maintenance-free brakes

Vehicle brake manufacturer and developer Advanced Braking Technology is set to expand its product portfolio after signing a $4 million contract to design and manufacture brakes for refuse collection vehicles.

The company has signed the contract with Melbourne-based Brake Developments, an investor consortium established specifically for the purpose of funding a project to develop the new brake system.

The contract is for developing brakes using the patented Sealed Integrated Braking System (SIBS) technology. SIBS uses wet friction, resulting in minimal wear and tear on brakes and greatly reduced maintenance requirements.

Ken Johnsen, managing director of Advanced Braking, said the SIBS technology is well suited to refuse collection vehicle requirements.

“The frequent stopping of refuse collection vehicles, particularly in domestic collection services, requires a very high level of brake maintenance,” he said.

“The configuration of SIBS technology has been proven to dramatically reduce wear on brake parts, which increases the service life of the brakes and reduces vehicle downtime and maintenance costs.”

Johnsen said the project was also seeking to eliminate harmful particle emissions. “The benefit of SIBS in a frequently stopping vehicle is that the brake is fully enclosed and does not emit any particle emissions.”

Vehicle brakes, particularly in built-up and high traffic areas, contribute greatly to airborne particle levels — an area of increasing concern among health professionals.

“In addition, SIBS has a fail-safe mechanism that is an integral part of the brake design and provides greater levels of safety in the event of brake system failure or operator error,” he said.

The contract has $2 million allocated to a two-year development program to adapt the SIBS technology, already proven on light commercial vehicles, for use on refuse collection vehicles.

A further $2 million will be provided to fund a fleet trial in order to refine and test the product under ‘real world’ conditions. The result will be a product which can be mass produced and marketed to refuse collection operators worldwide.