DriverMax: Big Invention, Small Town Inventor 

Radcliffe Man's Invention Cuts Costs by Closely Governing Fuel Injection for Diesel Engines

Waterloo Courier
Mathew Wilde, Courier Staff Writer

Radcliffe, IA - The time could come that business suits will replace bib overalls as the work attire most seen in downtown Radcliffe.
And if Dwayne Fosseen has his way, this farming community halfway between Des Moines and Mason City could become known as the fuel-economy capital of the world. 

Fosseen intends to build a $1 million communications building here to help market and provide customer service for fuel-control devices he’s invented. DriverMax, a product designed to precisely administer the volume of fuel injected into diesel engines to reduce fuel costs and exhaust emission is being installed in vehicles worldwide and EconoCruise, a device using global positioning satellites (GPS) to control a vehicle’s speed for optimum fuel efficiency, will be tested this month for future release.

The 53-year old high school graduate is president and chief operating officer of Fosseen Manufacturing Co. Inc. and Mirenco, a firm developed to market DriverMax. Both companies are based in Radcliffe. If his products take off as anticipated, he hopes to solicit other local firms to manufacture part or all of them.

Before groundbreaking can begin this fall, Fosseen said 2 million share of Mirenco stock must be sold to finance the project. At $5 each, the shares went on sale only in Iowa on July 30. He declined to verify how many shares have been sold so far, only to say the response has been "really good" Eventually, he would like to list Mirenco nationally, such as on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Even though Radcliffe’s population is under 600 and a major airport is more than an hour away, Fosseen believes his small hamlet can be a major player in the business community. And attracting top-notch professionals to live in rural American shouldn’t be a problem either.

"I’m small town oriented and ag(riculture) is in my blood. I enjoy the challenge of trying to do something that can’t be done," Fosseen said. "The way technology is now, such as video conferencing, we can communicate all over the world (from here).

"I don’t think hiring will be very difficult at all. I think people are tired of breathing foul air and traffic jams and salaries will be competitive (to similar positions in large cities)," he added.

Fosseen has discussed the building project with the Radcliffe City Council. The new facility would not be a manufacturing center. The building will be constructed in an enterprise zone, which will provide some temporary tax relief.

A marketing study by the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls calculated sales of DriverMax could reach $2.5 billion once it’s accepted worldwide. That prediction is starting to become reality. After more than 20 years in development, Fosseen has sold over one-third o the first 300 production models and the rest of the stock is spoken for. Units sell for $450 each.

Fosseen recently signed a contract with Overland Custom Coach in Canada, which builds mass transit buses, to install DriverMax in their products. He also signed a contract last week with Digital Diesel in Mexico City to be a service center and install DriverMax in diesel trucks for such companies as Pepsi Co. It’s already in use in public transit systems in Cedar Rapids, Fort Dodge and Chicago, just to name a few cities.

Once he taps into the European market, where diesel fuel sometimes tops $40 a gallon, he believes the company will really take off. However, he realizes that nothing is a sure thing. Testing has shown 10 percent saving in fuel and over a 60 percent reduction in exhaust.

"I’m extremely confident in the technology, but it has its pros and cons. It has to do with how cheap energy is," he said. "There always is a black cloud hanging over us. The stock market could turn overnight, interest rates could skyrocket or wars could have an impact on our public company or any public company."

The next production run of Driver Max will be for about 5,000 units. In the future, he would like to convince local companies to build DriverMax or a national company to build a new factory in Hardin County for that purpose. No companies have been contacted.

Fosseen’s latest invention is set to be tested by a Des Moines area-trucking firm this month. EconoCruise uses GPS and computers to save fuel. The technology is designed to let companies use the expertise of their best drivers to save money.

For example, if a vehicle is driven from Waterloo to Des Moines every day, a computer will calculate and store a driver’s acceleration patterns for every section of the highway. Then the next time the vehicle is driven, no mater who is behind the wheel, EconoCruise can be activated and the speed will be determined by the vehicle’s location. Like a conventional cruise control, a tap of the brakes will shut it off.

"The computer looks ahead and says ‘oh, there’s a hill up there and we should be at 63 mph to get the optimum fuel efficiency,’" Fosseen said.

Instead of manufacturing EconoCruise, Fosseen would like to license other companies to make it. And hopefully, like DriverMax, he wants that to remain in northeast Iowa.

"This company’s blood is Iowa," Fosseen said. "I’m just an inventor. At the heart of the company is Iowa people and I’m pretty happy with that." 

About Mirenco

Mirenco is a Radcliffe, Iowa-based Company that specializes in patented vehicle management technology and consultative services for reducing vehicle emissions, improving fuel economy and lengthening the service life of heavy-duty diesel vehicles.  More information is available at www.mirenco.com, or via e-mail at info@mirenco.com or by calling 800.423.9903.

Some of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature.  Actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements.  Additional information concerning Mirenco, Inc. can be found within Mirenco's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Statements in this release should be evaluated in light of this additional information.

Contact Information:
Dwayne Fosseen
fosseen@mirenco.com
800-423-9903