US Patent 7349798 Remote control of engine operation in a motor vehicle

A set of remote switches (14, 16) located outside the cab of a truck enables service personnel to crank, accelerate, decelerate, and shut off the truck's engine without having to enter the cab. The set of switches are interlocked with controls (12, 13) inside the occupant compartment, including the ignition switch (12) that is used to crank the engine from inside the cab, via an engine control system (11) that uses the state of a switch that senses locking/unlocking of the cab on the chassis engine control system (11) to select either the remote switches or the occupant compartment controls to the exclusion of the other for controlling engine running once the engine has been cranked and started.