Yet Darry Stuart, president of consulting firm DWS Fleet Management Services who spent many decades managing fleets of all shapes and sizes, shared a blunt truth about the growing lack of manual shifting skills within the overall U.S. motoring population: “The pool of new drivers simply doesn’t learn how to shift gears growing up anymore. It’s estimated that upwards of 50% to 60% of the new drivers coming into this industry today don’t know how to shift a manual transmission. Consequently, transmissions must be easier to use, more robust and provide better fuel economy.”
While this certainly isn’t a new trend – indeed, I wrote about this very subject three years ago – we’re starting to see a lot more fully automatic and automated manual transmission (AMT) options being brought to the factory spec’ing by OEMs.
Take Navistar, for one: the Lisle, Il-based OEM announced this week that it will now offer a “broad portfolio” of fully automatic and automated manual transmissions for its International ProStar and TranStar tractors aimed at “reducing the variance between expert drivers and first-timers by electronically monitoring vehicle speed, grade, weight and more to select the best gear for the engine,” noted Bill Kozek, the OEM’s president of North America Truck and Parts. “This not only improves efficiency, but it will extend the life of the driveline.”
That portfolio by the way includes: the Cummins Eaton Smart Advantage package, which married a Cummins engine to an Eaton Ultrashift AMT; the Eaton UltraShift Plus LSE; and the Allison TC10 fully automatic gearbox.
[You can view a short ride and drive below about the TC10 conducted two years ago when Allison first introduced it.]
In more detail, the Cummins Eaton Smart Advantage marries a Cummins 15-liter ISX15 engine with a 10-speed Eaton AMT; a package that comes with a standard five-year or 750,000 mile warranty. The UltraShift Plus LSE is a 16-speed direct drive automated mechanical transmission designed exclusively for Navistar and is available on its ProStar models. It features 16 forward gears and two reverse gears, an overall ratio of 14.40, and a standard five-year/750,000 mile warranty for the transmission and three-year/350,000 mile warranty for the clutch.
Finally, the Allison TC10 provides a “blended architecture” transmission with full-power shifts, a torque converter and a twin countershaft gear box. Expected to be available for delivery in early 2014 on International ProStar and TranStar vehicles with 13-liter MaxxForce 13, the TC10 offers 10 forward speeds and two reverse gears, along with a standard five-year or 750,000 mile warranty.
Of course, making the big gear box “automatic” won’t solve the driver shortage by itself – much still remains to be worked out in terms of pay, home time, etc. But if potential recruits don’t have to face a long struggle to master a 10- or 13-speed manual transmission as they attempt learn all the ticklish details of maneuvering 53-foot trailers at the dock and on the highway, fleets might fight it easier to find and keep more drivers. We'll see if that is indeed the case.
