Automatic transmissions help with driver recruitment and retention, and also help improve fuel economy and safety. An automatic gives the driver the ability to focus more attention on the road, and also helps reduce driver fatigue.
However, early versions of an automated transmission annoyed drivers. The computer would shift too late or too soon, and experienced drivers wanted nothing to do with being a passenger in a truck driven by a novice software program.
But the technology has improved in recent years. The new transmissions are now better integrated in the trucks and the computers have gotten more precise, evaluating engine torque, engine speed, vehicle speed and vehicle angle before shifting gears.
While very experienced drivers can coax close to the same mileage from a manual transmission that a computer can get, new drivers cannot. According to Brian Daniels, manager of Detroit Powertrain and component products for Daimler-Benz which makes Freightliner trucks , better products came on the market around and demand for them has risen quickly ever since.
European trucking companies adopted automated transmissions earlier than those in the U. Volvo introduced its I-shift transmission in Europe in , and by the late s about 75 percent of its trucks in Europe were manufactured with an automated transmission.
For example, at Schneider, all the new trucks the company buys have automated transmissions. The biggest reason is the safety [of the trucks with automatic transmissions]. Sean Kilcarr, a writer for American Trucker , spoke with John Kingsley, a former owner-operator turned company driver with 22 years of over-the-road experience, for an article he wrote in February Kingsley has split his career between flatbed and dry van operations.
With that experience, he knows how to shift gears to get the best possible fuel economy, a skill he built on millions of miles of hard-won experience. From the vantage point of many fleets, another aspect of the transmission that Kingsley learned was its impact on fuel economy.
After two weeks and over 7, miles, Kingsley reported that his AMT-equipped Cascadia averaged 8. Fuel savings like those are another reason fleets — and many owner-operators — are shifting to AMTs. Another reason is that AMTs decrease driver fatigue, explained Gedert.
Kurt Swihart, marketing director for Kenworth Truck Co. The hill start aid will prevent your truck from rolling back. Skip shifting is featured to avoid unnecessary gears. Volvo manufactures its own transmissions for its own trucks under the I-Shift product line. It may be of interest to you to know that Volvo is the parent company of Mack meaning they own the company. There are 4 types of I-Shift transmissions that vary based on software and mode.
They are fuel economy basic, performance premium, comprehensive premium, and gentle-shift. The rock out and power launch features help truckers get their truck moving if it gets stuck in snow or mud.
Now we will discuss some key factors to consider when deciding which is the best semi-truck automatic transmission to buy. Gear ratios will be covered in a future guide. For now, you should have enough basic information to be informed of the different automated manual transmission options and to have an idea of what specifications are relevant to you.
My comment is a question? The A. The ultra shift has so many additional harness ,solonieds computers shifting forks and so on all prone to corrosion and wear at least in the northern states. A typical clutch job on a A. T is 0ver Obviously large companies lease and spin their equipment every 4 or 5 years so the savings using the A.
Thanks for the info. We are looking to buy a KW T with 10 speed ultra shift, will this be the plus, or did they still put first gens in that year? Denis says: January 15, at pm. Johnk says: February 11, at am. Peter Corato says: August 19, at am. Frederick T Haas says: June 18, at pm. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. This website uses cookies to improve your experience and to personalise content and adverts, to provide social media features and to analyse traffic.
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Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content Menu. August 26 Automatic Transmission for Semi-Trucks In the early stages of technology for automatic transmissions for semi-trucks, the technology was having trouble adapting. Manual Transmissions for Semi-Trucks Manual transmissions put trucking into the hands of the drivers. The Third Type of Transmission If you thought that you were just looking at automatic and manual transmissions, you were only half right.
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