I had the opportunity to participate in the official opening of Daimler Trucks North America’s High Desert Proving Grounds (HDPG). It’s located in the high desert of Oregon, in the community of Madras.
Incorporated in 1910, Madras has an elevation of 2,437’ above sea level.
The HDPG joins Madras’ mix of agricultural and manufacturing enterprises.
Out of the Way
About a 2.5-hour drive from Portland, the proving grounds are hard to find. And that was done on purpose, to hide the R&D efforts from prying eyes. That’s no easy thing to do. The HDPG takes up 87 acres, and has a 3,400-sq. ft. building and test tracks.
While out of the way, the view of nature around the facility is breathtaking.
Work began on the HDPG in June 2015. It was an $18.7 million investment. The grand opening was in mid-May.
The Why
Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) – the leading heavy duty truck manufacturer in North America – designed its proving grounds to:
- Merge real-world validation of DTNA’s research and development and engineering initiatives.
- Help bring new technologies to market faster than ever before.
- Serve as a key component in the company’s ongoing testing in the areas of truck platooning and autonomous vehicles.
DTNA produces and markets commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses nameplates. It is a Daimler company, the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer.
The Weather
DTNA officials says Madras is an ideal spot for a proving grounds because of the weather. The region boasts average summer temperature in the highs 90s Fahrenheit and average winter lows in the 20s Fahrenheit. Its extremes reach 110° Fahrenheit and 40° Fahrenheit, there are 150+ days of sunshine and and average 10” total annual precipitation.
Access
The HDPG is located approximately 120 miles southeast of DTNA’s Portland headquarters, allowing the engineering team easy access to the testing facility. The route from Portland to Madras also provides vehicles real-world validation by including portions on the interstate, rural roads and mountainous terrain through the Mount Hood pass.
The test track is 3.5 miles of highly-engineered surfaces that allow engineers to simulate a typical vehicle’s full service life in approximately six months. One mile on the track is equivalent to 200 miles on a highway.
The 24,000-sq. ft. shop has 12 work stations, a 500-sq. ft. instrumentation lab and 14 service bays for technicians to work on and inspect the fleet of durability test vehicles.
Making presentations at the HDPG grand opening were Roger Nielsen, president and CEO, DTNA; Wilfried Achenbach, DTNA’s senior vice president of engineering; Madras Mayor, Royce Embanks; and additional local and state officials.
Event Photos
Additional photos of DTNA’s HDPG can be found in an online Media Gallery here.
