Meanwhile, the Cummins Acumen solution, an
Cummins Settles ‘Diesel Cheat’ Allegation for Over $2 Billion
Cummins is paying $1.675 billion in fines and another $370 million in remedies to the U.S. Department of Justice, the largest civil penalty to date under the Clean Air Act, for its alleged role in a diesel emissions cheat scandal tied to Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks. The company also settled with California for another $46 million, approximately $42 million going to the state’s Air Resources Board—$32 million in penalties and $9.8 million to NOx mit- igation programs. The DOJ said defeat devices installed in
600,000 model-year 2013-2023 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks are being repaired and the engine control software is being replaced as part of a recall. Cummins is also extending warranty periods for certain parts. According to a Cummins statement earlier
this year:
“On Dec. 22, 2023, we announced an agree- ment in principle to resolve U.S. regulatory claims regarding Cummins’ emissions certi- fication and compliance process for certain engines primarily used in pick-up truck ap- plications. Today marks another step toward concluding that four-year review. Consent decrees were filed today in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia consistent with the previously announced settlement terms. “These filings do not involve any additional financial commitments beyond those disclosed by Cummins in connection with the announce- ment of the agreement in principle last month. As Cummins said then, we are looking forward to obtaining certainty as we conclude this lengthy matter and continue to deliver on our mission of powering a more prosperous world. We remain committed to advancing our Des- tination Zero strategy—Cummins’ vision for achieving a zero-emissions future—which is driven by decarbonization and aimed at pro- moting economic growth while using fewer of the world’s resources.”
advanced computing device directly on the engine, collects and processes raw data, analyzing it and deliver- ing predictive performance insights and solutions to the fleet operator, including software updates. “This happens in the background but is visible to the fleet manager and the operator of the vehicle,” com- mented Aparna Venkatraman, the director of Cummins digital product management. “The final [software update] install, which takes up to five minutes, can happen back at the yard at the end of the day or during a fueling event or rest stop. This required the vehicle to be turned on and off. This does not need to happen at a service loca- tion. In comparison, a wired update at a service location and via a service tool can take up to 45 minutes.” She also noted the ability of fleet managers to forego to send their buses to local dealer to perform the updates, which can result in the vehicle can be out of service for days. Acknowledging the concern of data security to ensure
that situations such as “bad actors” remotely shutting school bus systems down cannot occur, Stok said Navis- tar, the parent company of both IC Bus and OCC, has implemented extensive security measures such as data transmission through secure channels and data encryp- tion, both with the vehicle in motion and at rest, with authorized control of the data. “These configurations ensure data is secure and pro- tected from potential intruders,” she added. “Additionally, our customers need to designate a programming ad- ministrator to perform the OTA update which provides an additional level of security.” All updates to the engine, whether they are done
remotely or during a service event, continue to support Cummins’ rigorous cybersecurity, noted Venkatra- man, adding the time it takes to react and comply with campaigns or new updates is much quicker, given that end users can do the update at their convenience versus having to rely on service bay availability and scheduling. “Certain fault codes are resolved by updating to a new
software and for a fleet that has remote diagnostics in play, the fault codes are removed with the update and the fleet manager/operator of the vehicle can see the benefits immediately,” she said.
What About Electric Buses? Remote software updates and diagnostics are not only
intended for internal combustion engines. Accelera, the Cummins zero-emissions business unit, is current- ly testing OTA for its battery packs, e-axles and related components. That means automatically updating the Cummins
52 School Transportation News • JULY 2024
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