A new programming feature for Cummins engines aims to improve the regeneration process for diesel particulate filters (DPFs).

DPF regeneration has been a source of maintenance challenges for many school bus operations since the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 engine emission standards went into effect. A School Bus Fleet survey last year found that emission system maintenance on newer buses was one of the top challenges for school bus shops.

“Diesel is now one of the cleanest fuels available today. Yet, one of the results of diesel running so cleanly is that in some instances, engines may not regenerate frequently enough in order to properly clean out the diesel particulate filter,” said Caley Edgerly, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses. “This lack of regeneration frequency leads to the need for more frequent service cycles.”

On Wednesday, Thomas Built announced that it is now offering a feature called Diesel Particulate Filter Temperature Stabilization, aka “Stay Warm,” on its buses with Cummins diesel engines. According to the school bus OEM, the feature optimizes the regenerative parameters of engines.

“Through significant testing, we have determined that we can optimize the DPF parameters, which helps to improve the frequency of the regeneration without affecting the cleanliness of clean diesel,” Edgerly explained. “Through this exciting development in clean diesel, fleets will see significant improvement in their engine and DPF performance along with reduced engine maintenance, maintenance costs, and fleet downtime.”

Thomas Built began providing DPF Temperature Stabilization as a standard, factory-installed feature on all Cummins engines with a standard exhaust configuration as of April 11. Also, the OEM noted that any customers with model year 2010 or later Cummins engines can go to a local Thomas Built dealer to have the engines programmed with the new parameter.

A spokesman for IC Bus said that the feature is also offered on IC Bus products with Cummins engines.