MADRAS — Mt. Jefferson rises majestically in the distance as an electric truck silently corners a curve on a track carved out of the scrub brush north of Madras Airport.

Here, at Daimler Truck North America’s High Desert Proving Ground, horsepower means something different than at the region’s ranchlands in this wide-open landscape. The 3.5 miles of tracks offer 14 different road conditions designed to mimic normal roadways.

“We’re testing trucks and trying to break them before we put them on the market,” said Sean Waters, Daimler Truck North America vice president of compliance and regulatory affairs. “One of the worst things is for a truck to break down.”

The tracks at the High Desert Proving Ground are designed for trucks of all sorts and can simulate a typical vehicle’s full service life of about eight years in only six months. Trucks are tested for durability, noise, handling, safety systems, autonomous driving, fuel economy, performance, lighting and software.

Conditions are dependent on the type of truck used and each truck is outfitted with loads similar to what will be encountered while being used. It’s important to find out what will break since the company claims it has 40% market share with the Freightliners brand. About 70% of all freight gets a ride on a truck at one point of its journey, Waters said.

The strength of the trucking industry means that the Daimler Madras facility is important to forging a strong economy in the region. The Madras facility also connects Daimler Truck facilities in the Portland metro area, said Damon Runberg, Business Oregon economist.

“Madras and Warm Springs are uniquely situated just two hours from the Portland market,” Runberg said. “But the unique dry high desert climate is ideal for manufacturing, data centers and other large industrial spaces.”

If you build it…

Attracting manufacturers to the region is a vital component of economic development, said Jon Stark, Economic Development for Central Oregon CEO. Over the past 10 years, through 2022, manufacturing accounted for 85.9% of all payroll in Jefferson County, compared to 17.8% in Oregon and 10.4% in the United States, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

“Manufacturing is our roots here in Central Oregon,” Stark said. “We were first predominantly a wood products community and that’s manufacturing. Those skills can be translated to other industries.

“We are a community of makers because of our roots.”

Central Oregon workers also have a work ethic that employers like to see, Stark said. A workforce is vital to expanding the economy and business base.

Madras City Councilor Jennifer Townsend was proud to get a tour on Tuesday of the Daimler facility. The land that the facility is on is among 74 enterprise zones across Oregon. The city of Madras oversees, creates, amends and manages these zones that offer tax incentives to businesses that locate and bring jobs into a community.

“This is a great asset for the city,” Townsend said. “It’s on airport land and to have this level of technology is a great asset to the community.”

When the facility was first built in 2017, Daimler Truck occupied 87 acres and invested about $19 million. The size of the facility and the amount of investment has increased over time to 249 acres and the total investment is now $33 million. Townsend said the facility continues to grow and along with it other businesses are locating in the town of 7,000. Daimler Truck employs 16 people in Madras. Just recently, two hotels opened in Madras: The Bunkhouse and The Inn at Cross Keys Station, Townsend said.

“It’s truly an amazing asset especially in Central Oregon,” said state Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend. “Jefferson County wants to work with them to maximize the investment. It’s a bright light to the tri-county area.”

Knopp, who was also on the tour, got to see the expansion at the BasX, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning manufacturer in Redmond, and Epic Aircraft manufacturing in Bend. The tours were part of the statewide business association, Oregon Business and Industry, tour of manufacturers around the state.

“Our goal with these tours is to help educate Oregon and policy makers about the breadth of innovation across the state,” said Angela Wilhelms, Business Oregon CEO. “People often don’t know what is happening in their own backyard.”

Testing trucks

At the Daimler Truck proving ground, engineers install sensors and load cells inside the trucks to measure the truck’s responses and cull data that can be used later to make design and engineering decisions, said Sean McKenna, Daimler Truck North America manager of durability.

Driver assistance systems — blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning systems — are also tested with models of motorcycles and people popping up along the track. Hills are built into the tracks at up to 30% grade, testing power train performance. On the durability track, there’s a 10% grade increase to test chassis and power train systems.

“Every truck we test is what a customer wants,” McKenna said. “Each kind of truck is tested based on the conditions the customer will put it through.”

Inside the warehouse where truck repairs are done, video monitors throughout the 32,000 square-foot-facility connect the team to Portland and other facilities. In all, Daimler Truck employs about 3,000 people in Oregon.

At the track, engineers test all Daimler Truck brands, Detroit Diesel Corp, Freightliner Trucks, Western Star, Freightliner Custom Chassis and Thomas Built Buses. It also tests electric trucks and diesel-powered vehicles and autonomous trucks for about nine months, whick is equivalent to 10 years in the field, said McKenna.

“Testing for long haulers is a vast majority of what we do,” McKenna said. “We’re looking at wear, tear and cracking to dial it in with testing. We’re working toward green technology using electric and hydrogen power.”