I really have to disagree with your analysis of this situation. A close read of the newsletter and the events of past history with this company and connecting the dots leads to a very different story.
First, the AHS web site says that a OTR truck will see 6-18% reduction in fuel usage. Then we hear that the company LOVES the unit and will be happy with 3 1/2% savings. And with a little tweaking the unit can get twice that. Now then, does that make any sense at all? Not really. Compare that to these large windfoils that we see on a lot of trucks on the road today. My understanding is that they improve fuel efficiency about 5% just by eliminating wind drag on the trailer.
I would like to know how often the trucks had to be made available to gather data. Did the data that the company had match the data that HTI has? If the numbers do not match I would think that the fleet owners would want to know why! Do they?
IMO that newsletter was a list of excuses for why units are not selling. Supposedly there were 10 fleets in testing. Carndog said that all are still in play. So, are evil-doers calling all 10 and saying whatever? Even the "ONE"? Think about it, the same people calling 5 times a day? It just does not make sense. Add to that if the unit was actually working then why would some nuisance calls make any difference to anyone.
The newsletter says that the units had many problems and among them was finding the correct setting. Well, when you put all of that together, you arrive at the conclusion that there is nothing intelligent about this controller at all. It looks like it has one setting and that is all. There is no way for it to adapt to changing conditions. Even the cruise control on my car can adapt to going uphill or downhill, etc to keep the speed constant.
Then we have the post yesterday that obviously someone wants the technology and wants it bad. Who would that be? The common thread in all of these lawsuits is that people want to get paid for their work, or products or whatever it is that HTI agreed to pay but is not. I think it is a race to the bank account to collect whatever is there. In my experience, there are two ways to get paid. The first is that you submit a bill and the company pays freely when it is due. The other is that you sue so that you can take it out of their bank account and be done with it. I think that all of these people who have sued are just wanting to be first in line to get to the bank account for whatever is there. There is no one on any of these lawsuits as I see them that is set up to be able to make units and market them. IMO the motivation is simple and is all related to getting at least some money.
Finally, the last time that I was in Springdale before yesterday, they had a nice office building, very impressive. When you came up to the glass door they had the company logo inside below the receptionist window. Anyone who has been there can verify that. Yesterday, I was on my way to St. Louis and intentionally went out of my way so that I could go thru Springdale and drop by just to chat and satisfy myself on some concerns of my own. The receptionist window had been painted over. Now there is nothing to say who it is or what it is. The office was dark and no one was there. The only thing that would let you know it was the right place was an old van that has the HTI name painted on it. That was the same van that was there when I visited before. It did not look like it had been moved since I was there before. I tried calling, but no one answered the phone. Makes sense because the office was dark with no one there! Make what you will of that. It will probably be a month or so before I can manage to drive through that area again. It is out of the way for me.
AI
