Technology

Closer look at Ram heavy duty pickups' rear cargo cam

Oct. 27, 2015

Officially, it's a center high-mount stop lamp, or CHMSL, camera, but a few Ram Trucks execs jokingly referred to it as "the marriage saver cam."

Aaron Marsh

Officially, it's a center high-mount stop lamp, or CHMSL, camera, which engineers at an Oct. 20 event at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chelsea Proving Grounds tended to pronounce as a word, "chimsel." A few execs jokingly referred to it as "the marriage saver cam."

Why's that? If you've got a 5th wheel installed on your pickup, the CHMSL camera provides a supplemental view of the bed to make things like backing up to a gooseneck trailer less of a hassle. Fleet Owner got in for a closer look at this $325 option for 2016 2500 and 3500 pickup models.

Click here to read more about the optional Ram Trucks CHMSL camera.

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He wrote about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined FleetOwner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he was a keeper of knowledge at FleetOwner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all-around trucking—and still turned a wrench or two. Or three.

Aaron previously wrote for FleetOwner.