TRANSMISSIONS CONTROLLED ELECTRONICALLY ......transmissions. Therefore, for the purposes of this...

CONFIDENCE

REPORT:

ELECTRONICALLY

CONTROLLED

TRANSMISSIONS

ABSTRACT This report documents the confidence

that North American Class 8 trucking

should have in specifying and buying

tractors with an automated manual or

fully automatic transmission. The

study team engaged the entire industry

in the data that is presented here.

Thanks to all of those who contributed

to this important work.

Trucking Efficiency Trucking Efficiency is a joint effort between NACFE and the Carbon War Room to double the freight efficiency of North American goods movement through the elimination of market barriers to information, demand and supply.

© 2014 North American Council for Freight Efficiency. All rights reserved. The contents of this document are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of any product, service, industry practice, service provider, manufacturer, or manufacturing process. Nothing contained herein is intended to constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice, and NACFE assumes no liability for use of the report contents. No portion of this report or accompanying materials may be copied, reproduced or distributed in any manner without express attribution to the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.

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Acknowledgements:

Study Team: Paul Menig, CEO Tech-I-M, LLC (Formerly Daimler Trucks North America)

Rob Swim (Retired from Navistar, Inc.) Robert Weimer (Retired from Cummins Engine Co.)

Mike Roeth, NACFE Executive Director

Study Editor: Tessa Lee, Carbon War Room

Denise Rondini, Rondini Communications

Study Sponsors: Gold Level

Eaton Volvo Trucks North America/Mack Trucks

Silver Level

Daimler Trucks North America Cummins, Inc.

Ryder System, Inc. Navistar Inc.

Bronze Level

Orscheln Group

In-Kind Contributions: Michelin North America, Inc.

NACFE Technical Advisory Committee:

Tim Dzojko, Air Products Randy Cornell, Con-way TL

Yves Provencher, FPInnovations Steve Hanson, Frito Lay

Bruce Stockton, Kenan Advantage Group Dan Deppeler, Paper Transport Steve Duley, Schneider National

Dale Spencer, UPS Steve Phillips, Werner Enterprises

Mike Roeth, NACFE Executive Director

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Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9

1.1 Operation Trucking Efficiency’s Confidence Reports ................................................................. 11

1.2 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 13

1.2.1 Preliminary Study Questions used in study team interviews ............................................. 14

2 Overview of Currently Available Automated Manual and Automatic Transmissions ...................... 14

2.1 History of Automated Manual and Automatic Transmissions ................................................... 15

2.2 Automated Manual Transmissions – Technical Overview ......................................................... 18

2.3 Automatic Transmissions – Technical Overview ........................................................................ 19

2.4 Future Developments in Transmissions ..................................................................................... 19

3 Benefits and Challenges .................................................................................................................... 19

3.1 Benefits....................................................................................................................................... 20

3.1.1 Improved Fuel Economy ..................................................................................................... 20

3.1.2 Reduced Variability in Fuel Economy ................................................................................. 20

3.1.3 Enablement of the Adoption of Other Beneficial Technologies ......................................... 22

3.1.4 Improved Driver Recruitment and Retention ..................................................................... 24

3.1.5 Improved Driver Performance and Safety .......................................................................... 24

3.2 Adverse Consequences/Challenges ........................................................................................... 25

3.2.1 Upfront Cost ........................................................................................................................ 25

3.2.2 Resale Value ........................................................................................................................ 25

3.2.3 Maintenance ....................................................................................................................... 25

3.2.4 Specification Issues ............................................................................................................. 26

4 Overview of Specific Systems and Manufacturer Perspectives........................................................ 26

4.1 Allison ......................................................................................................................................... 27

4.1.1 System Overview ................................................................................................................ 27

4.1.2 Manufacturer’s Perspective ................................................................................................ 28

4.2 Daimler Truck North America .................................................................................................... 28

4.2.1 System Overview ................................................................................................................ 28


4.3 Eaton .......................................................................................................................................... 29

4.3.1 System Overview ................................................................................................................ 29


4.4 Volvo ........................................................................................................................................... 30

4.4.1 System Overview ................................................................................................................ 30

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4.5 Kenworth: Perspective ............................................................................................................... 31

4.6 Navistar: Perspective .................................................................................................................. 32

5 Insights from Fleets ........................................................................................................................... 33

5.1 Overall Fleet Satisfaction with Automated Manual Transmissions ........................................... 33

5.2 Perspectives: NACFE Fleet Interviews ....................................................................................... 34

5.3 Michelin Fleet Forum Survey Respondents ............................................................................... 35

6 Payback Calculator ............................................................................................................................ 36

7 Best Practices for Adoption .............................................................................................................. 41

7.1 Specification of Equipment ........................................................................................................ 41

7.2 Driver Involvement ..................................................................................................................... 41

8 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................. 42

8.1 Confidence Matrix ...................................................................................................................... 42

Appendix A: Manufacturer Summaries .................................................................................................... 44

Appendix B: Manufacturer Comparison Sheet ........................................................................................ 48

Appendix C: The Science behind Electronically Controlled Transmissions ............................................. 49

Fortunately, myriad technologies that show strong potential for achieving cost-effective gains in fuel efficiency for Class 8 trucks are readily available on the market today. Unfortunately, numerous barriers have stymied the industry’s uptake of such technologies. Central among those barriers is a lack of data about the true performance gains offered by these technologies, as well as a lack of confidence in the data that does publicly exist today. In order to overcome those barriers and facilitate the industry’s trust in and adoption of the most promising fuel-efficiency technologies, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) has partnered with Carbon War Room (CWR) to form the Trucking Efficiency Operation. The Operation’s work includes a series of Confidence Reports, of which the report on electronically controlled transmissions is the fourth.

The fuel costs faced by the tractor-trailer industry have been swiftly and steadily rising over the past decade. By 2013 diesel fuel costs reached $0.65 per mile, costing the industry more per annum than the combined costs of wages and benefits for the drivers. And although fuel costs have recently declined, all indications are that fuel prices will continue to reshape the economics of trucking, forcing the industry to find solutions to stay profitable.

By 2013 diesel fuel costs reached

$0.65 per mile, costing the industry more

per annum than the combined costs of wages and benefits

for the drivers.

Definitions

A clear and commonly-understood set of terms is critical, as two types of electronically controlled transmissions are available to the industry today—automated manuals and automatics. Technically, the term “automatic” is reserved for torque converter hydraulic automatic transmissions, while “automated manual” (commonly abbreviated as AMT) is the term for a mechanical transmission that was automated by adding computers, sensors, and actuators to the shift forks and clutch.

However, many people use the term “automatic” to refer to any transmission that has some degree of electronic control, including what are properly termed “automated manuals.” This can lead to some confusion, as it erases the actual distinctions between the different transmissions. Therefore, for the purposes of this report, the term “automated manual

transmissions” refers consistently to manual gearboxes that have their

clutch actuation and gear shifts electronically controlled, while the term “automatic transmissions” r e f e r s o n l y t o t h o s e transmissions which feature a torque converter and planetary gearing with disc packs gear changes—what are now often called “fully automatics” by the industry. When the two types of transmissions are

referred to collectively, the term “electronically controlled” is used.

TRUCKING EFFICIENCY CONFIDENCE REPORT: Electronically Controlled Transmissions

Executive Summary

METHODOLOGYAlong with a technical overview of available technologies, the report’s conclusions were generated through a series of interviews with transmission manufacturers, vehicle OEMs that integrate automated manual and/or automatic transmissions, and fleet owners that use these transmissions. In total, Trucking Efficiency conducted conf ident ia l interviews, e ither in-person or over the phone, with all 5 transmission manufacturers, 5 truck manufacturers, and 19 large fleet owners, all of whom had some experience with automated manual transmissions. Finally, medium and smaller fleets were surveyed about their perceptions of and experiences with the various transmission options via an online collaboration with the Michelin Fleet Forum. In total 59 fleets participated in that survey, of which 29 had first-hand knowledge with e lectron ica l ly contro l led transmissions.

Trucking Efficiency Confidence Reports to date:

1. Tire Pressure Technologies (August 2013)

2. 6x2 Axle Systems (January 2014)

3. Idle Reduction Technologies (June 2014)

4. Electronically Controlled Transmissions (December 2014)

Visit www.truckingefficiency.org to download these and other reports

Findings

The report finds that fleets should expect to see an average 1–3% improvement in fuel economy when using automated manuals, and potentially higher gains from automatics in certain high-shifting duty cycles. With fuel costs of $0.65/mile, and an average 120,000 miles driven per year, a 3% increase in efficiency represents savings of $2,300/year per truck. Considering that about 22.38 pounds of CO2 are released for every gallon of diesel burned, at $4.00/gallon this represents nearly 13,000 pounds (5.8 metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions per truck per year, that could be profitably avoided through the adoption of electronically controlled transmissions.

Actual results will vary depending on duty cycle, the capability of the driver, and how well the driver has been trained to operate a truck with an electronically controlled transmission. Granted, the very best drivers will likely already be achieving similar fuel economies with manual transmissions as to those most drivers will get from electronically controlled systems. But since the majority of drivers will not be the very best drivers, these systems will offer overall gains to a fleet, and moreover will reduce the variability in fuel economy that occurs from one driver to the next using manuals, thereby reducing some uncertainty in operating costs.

However, while the mission of the Trucking Efficiency Operation is to promote such fuel economy gains, this Confidence Report finds that fuel savings are not the only significant incentive for considering electronically controlled transmissions today. Fleets are specifying these transmissions because they improve driver recruitment and retention—opening the pool of available drivers significantly, encouraging drivers to sign on with a certain fleet, and helping to retain those drivers once hired. This is because trucks with electronically controlled transmissions are easier (less tiring) to drive, and many younger people have no prior experience with manual transmissions. Finally, such systems improve safety, as there is one less thing that can distract a driver from the road in front of them.

TRANSMISSIONS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Along with these benef i ts , the Confidence Report’s research and interviews uncovered some key challenges which still stand in the way of the adoption of electronically controlled transmissions. Above all, the fact that the upfront cost of AMTs is anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 more than for manual transmissions. Other challenges include potentially increased maintenance costs, lowered resale values, and the added overall complexity of specifying a truck with an electronically controlled transmission, as many other features will need to be considered and perhaps specified differently than they were in the past in order to ensure that a fleet is seeing the available benefit from the transmission. All of these barriers are addressed in more detail in the report.

This report is timely in its focus as the industry is at a tipping point with regards to the dominant transmission technology. Since the dawn of trucking, the vast majority of transmissions have been manual, even for decades after electronically controlled transmissions were invented and became widely adopted in passenger vehicles. But in the last five years, the adoption of automated manual transmissions has accelerated rapidly, from 25% to 70%, of new tractors purchased, depending on the truck builder. Moreover, automatic transmissions, which until recently were predominately used by medium-duty vehicles or duty cycles with frequent starts-and-stops (like municipal buses), are now available in models appropriate for heavy-duty long-haul fleets.

However, this increase in adoption by no means suggests that the entire

industry is changing to automated shifting, whether due to lingering

concerns about the technology’s performance or a fear that

its costs will outweigh any value it offers to a fleet’s operations. This Confidence Report assesses both performance and cost, aiming to provide fleets with a comprehensive understanding of the benefits and challenges

of electronically controlled transmissions, as well as best

practices for adoption.

Fleets should expect to see an average

1–3% fuel economy improvement, as well as

lower driver turnover, which in turn reduces

recruiting and training costs.


Confidence Rating

The above matrix summarizes this assessment by indicating how confident the Trucking Efficiency study team is in the investment case for the two options. It is important to note that Trucking Efficiency is a vendor-agnostic organization, and therefore the report compares manual t ransmiss ions with e lectronica l ly controlled transmissions, but does not compare between individual brands or vendors of such systems. Today, four different manufactures have electronically controlled transmissions available on the North American market, and though the report provides details on each of their product lines, the Trucking Efficiency Operat ion has not independently evaluated any of the products.

This Confidence Rating indicates that Trucking Efficiency is highly confident that electronically controlled transmissions offer a good business case for adoption today, due to their fuel savings, driver safety benefits, recruitment and retention advantages, low operating costs, and acceptable initial purchase price. Another key finding of the report is that these technologies are ready for prime time.

Electronically controlled transmissions have been on the market for decades, and many manufacturers are now offering their third, fourth, and even fifth generation products. These products have proven to be reliable and durable, and end-user satisfaction levels with today’s products are high as shown by our end user data collection and as attested to by their relatively high adoption rates. The third reason for this Confidence Rating is the insight that electronically controlled transmissions enable additional benefits and technologies, including further improvements in fuel economy, safety, and operational efficiency delivered by exploiting the electronic integration of all powertrain components.

Payback Calculator

To complement the Confidence Rating and the figures for the average predicted fuel efficiency gains offered by automated manual transmissions, this Confidence Report includes a payback calculator with which individual fleet or truck owners can more accurately predict the gains that they themselves would experience were they to adopt. Users may input

data specific to their operations and duty cycles, and receive a tailored picture of whether or not the technology is worth investigating in detail. The calculator is specific to automated manuals, and not applicable to automatics, because the latter only became relevant to the heavy-duty trucking sector recently, and so limited data is available.

Nine cost elements that have proven to have a direct bearing on the successful introduction of technology, and which will impact the payback and overall value which a fleet might see from adoption, are included in the payback calculator. Four of these metrics are aspects of the direct cost of adoption, four are aspects of the operating costs of adoption, and the final metric considers the potential impact on a truck’s resale value as a result of adoption. The results of the payback calculation are presented in two forms: total of year-over-year savings, and payback in months.

Along with the results of the payback calculator, fleet owners can use this Confidence Report as an initial decision-making tool by considering whether the best practices for the adoption of electronically controlled transmissions it details are relevant to or replicable in their own operations. Successful adoption will hinge on two best practices: taking the care to reevaluate the specifications for the entire tractor in order to ensure that all systems are optimized for an electronically controlled transmission; and involving drivers in the process of shifting to the new technology, especially with respect to training them on proper operation.

Conclusion

In sum, it is the hope of the Trucking Efficiency Operation that this report will catalyze significant new interest in electronically controlled transmissions as a method for the industry to profitably increase its fuel efficiency and obtain other benefits for truck drivers as well as the environment. Trucking Efficiency is always seeking to expand the data or case studies that we can provide to the industry. We invite you to share with us your own experiences with these transmissions—whether you have adopted them already, are considering doing so, or have chosen not to pursue them at this time

Automated Manual

Transmissions

Automatic Transmissions

OPERATION TRUCKING EFFICIENCY Operation Trucking Efficiency is a joint effort between NACFE and Carbon War Room to double the freight efficiency of North American goods movement through the elimination of market barriers to information, demand, and supply.

Worldwide, heavy-duty freight trucks emit 1.6 gigatons of CO2 emissions annually—5.5% of society’s total greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are the result of the trucking sector’s dependence on petroleum-based fuels. Truck manufacturing is also a growth market that will likely see up to 328,000 new Class trucks built in 2015. But this growth, though profitable, could result in massive increases in trucking’s emissions—unless the trucking sector improves its fuel efficiency as fast as it expands.

With fuel prices still commanding nearly 40% of trucking costs, the adoption of efficiency technologies by all classes of trucks and fleets offers significant cost savings to the sector while reducing emissions. For example, for a typical heavy-duty truck in the United States, a 5% reduction in fuel use gained through improved efficiency offers yearly savings of over $4,000. Technologies capable of conferring such gains are relatively cheap to implement and widely available on the market. Many have the potential to be retrofitted onto existing trucks.

But in spite of the potential cost savings, even the most promising of these technologies are not yet being widely adopted by the North American trucking industry due to the following market barriers:

• Lack of confidence in the data on efficiency technologies: New technologies abound, but fleet owners lack comparable, credible, and widely available data proving their potential performances. Often the only existing data are producer claims, in which fleet owners put low trust. Fleet owners worry that savings will be less than promised, and that technologies will negatively impact their operations.

• Information is not shared: When fleets do independently test a technology, the tests are expensive and time-consuming, leading to 18-month average implementation times and low purchase quantities. Fleets tend to test in parallel, rather than sharing their test results or otherwise collaborating in obtaining performance data, resulting in an unnecessary duplication of cost and effort.

This Confidence Report series from Operation Trucking Efficiency was born out of not only the identification of these barriers, but also conversations with the industry, which made it clear that the elimination of these barriers requires a credible and independent source of information on fuel efficiency technologies and their applications. The Confidence Reports aim to serve as the first such source on the market today.

In order to generate confidence on the performance claims of efficiency technologies, Operation Trucking Efficiency, via these reports, is gathering and centralizing the multitude of existing sources of data about the performance results of different technology options when employed in a variety of vehicle models and duty cycles, and making all of that data openly accessible and more easily comparable. Furthermore, we are assessing the credibility of the available data, and providing an industry-standardized ranking of confidence in performance results, including ROI and efficiency gains.

Operation Trucking Efficiency welcomes outside views and new partners in our efforts to help accelerate the uptake of profitable, emission-reducing trucking technologies.

CARBON WAR ROOMCarbon War Room is a global nonprofit, founded by Sir Richard Branson and a team of like-minded entrepreneurs, that accelerates the adoption of business solutions that reduce carbon emissions at gigaton-scale and advance the low-carbon economy. The organization focuses on solutions that can be realized using proven technologies under current policy landscapes.

Working collaboratively in sectors where we have proven that profitable emission-reduction opportunities exist, Carbon War Room aims to create well-functioning, high-growth, and low-carbon marketplaces by launching Operations in those sectors. The War Room’s current Operations include Maritime Shipping Efficiency, Green Capital for Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment, Renewable Jet Fuels, Smart Island Economies, and Trucking Efficiency.

For more information, please visit www.carbonwarroom.com.

NACFEThe North American Council for Freight Efficiency drives the development and adoption of efficiency-enhancing, environmentally-beneficial, and cost-effective technologies, services, and methodologies in the North American freight industry by establishing and communicating credible and performance-based benefits. The Council is an effort of fleets, manufacturers, vehicle builders, and other government and non-government organizations coming together to improve North American goods movement.

For more information, please visit www.nacfe.org.

CONTACT US

To engage with the Trucking Efficiency Operation, please contact Trucking Efficiency Operation Lead Mike Roeth at:

[email protected] or [email protected]

NACFE


WAR R O O M

CARBON

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1 Introduction

This Confidence Report forms part of the continued work of Operation Trucking Efficiency, a joint initiative from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and the Carbon War Room (CWR), highlighting the potential of fuel-efficiency technologies and practices in over-the-road goods movement. Prior reports and initial findings on nearly 70 technologies available today can be found at www.truckingefficiency.org.

The fuel costs faced by the tractor-trailer industry have been swiftly and steadily rising over the past decade (Figure 1). By 2013, as Figure 2 shows, fuel costs had reached $0.65 per mile, surpassing even the costs for the driver (wages plus benefits).

Figure 1: US Annual Diesel Fuel Prices

http://www.truckingefficiency.org/

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Figure 2: Trucking Operational Cost

Source: American Transportation Research Institute 2014. Operational Costs of Trucking

Investment into proven technologies and practices that allow a truck or fleet to increase their fuel efficiency – meaning that they can do the same amount of business while spending less on fuel – is a hugely promising option for the industry in light of this trend.

To understand, and thereby better facilitate, uptake of such technologies, NACFE conducts an annual review, “the Fleet Fuel Study,” of the industry-wide adoption rates of nearly 70 fuel-efficiency technologies currently available for Class 8 tractors and trailers. This work, available on the www.nacfe.org website, has been called “the most comprehensive study of Class 8 fuel efficiency adoption ever conducted.” (Truck News, 2012)

http://www.nacfe.org/

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Figure 3: Fleet Fuel Study Participants

The overriding take-away from the most recent Fleet Fuel Study, completed in 2014, is that fleets are enjoying dramatic improvements in their fuel efficiency by adopting combinations of the various technologies surveyed — savings of about $7,200 per tractor per year compared to a fleet that has not invested in any efficiency technologies. This finding was drawn from research into the use of fuel-efficiency products and practices by ten of the largest, most data-driven fleets (Figure 3). Those fleets represent both regional and long-haul tractors and trailers, in both dry goods and refrigerated cargo movement, and boast a combined inventory of 41,000 tractors and 130,000 trailers. The 2013 and 2014 studies each reviewed a decade of those ten fleets’ specific experience with the sixty-plus technologies. Each fleet shared the percentage of their new purchases of tractors and trailers that included any of the technologies. They also shared ten-years-worth of annual fuel economy data for the trucks in their fleet. With these two pieces of information, which will be updated each year, NACFE is able to generate insights into the following aspects of the industry:

Adoption curves for each of the technologies, indicating which technologies have the steepest adoption rates, which are being adopted steadily but slowly, and which are not being purchased at all. These curves also show how uniformly (or not) fleets are acting in their adoption patterns.

Identification among the various fleets of the innovators, early-majority, late-majority, and even laggards, in new technology adoption.

Comparison of technology adoption rates to overall fuel efficiency.

1.1 Operation Trucking Efficiency’s Confidence Reports

NACFE’s Fleet Fuel Studies provide useful insights into adoption trends in the industry, as well as into the specific practices of different major fleets. NACFE hopes that this information could alone spur

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additional investment, particularly by fleets that may be lagging behind the overall industry when it comes to certain widely-adopted technologies. However, in the course of conducting the studies, it became clear that some technologies are still only being adopted by the most progressive or innovative of fleets in spite of their showing strong potential for achieving cost-effective gains in fuel efficiency. In order to facilitate the wider industry’s trust in and adoption of such technologies, NACFE and the CWR formed Operation Trucking Efficiency, and began this series of reports, called “Confidence Reports,” which will take an in-depth look at those most-promising but least-adopted technologies one-by-one.

Automated manual and automatic transmissions, referred to collectively as electronically controlled transmissions, are one such technology which have shown limited adoption rates in spite of promising results, and therefore meets Trucking Efficiency’s criteria for being a technology to investigate. The past few years have seen significantly increased adoption rates by numerous fleets, as well as much discussion in the truck industry press, but they are still not being purchased across the board, supporting the decision to more deeply understand the confidence fleets should have in pursuing them. The major parts of electronically controlled transmissions are a base gearbox, a clutch/torque converter, an actuator to change gears, an actuator for the clutch, sensors, an electronic control unit, and a driver interface display. (Figure 4)

Figure 4: Typical Parts of an Electronically Controlled Transmission

Confidence Reports provide a concise introduction to a promising category of fuel-efficiency technologies, covering the key details of their applications, benefits, and variables. The reports are produced via a data mining process that combs public information and collects otherwise-private information (which is shared with Trucking Efficiency for the purpose of the reports), in order to

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centralize an unparalleled range of testing data and case studies on a given technology set. The information gathered in each Confidence Report will typically include:

Technology Suppliers’ Bench Tests – For instance, predicting fuel economy

Fleet-Reported Case Studies – Data and best practices

Trucking Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) – How the technology performs in

engineering testing, as well as their plans for product introduction and ramp

Public Reports/Test/Data, press information, etc.

The core objective of this Confidence Report is to provide the leadership of fleets with a comprehensive overview of automated manual and automatic transmissions. Visit www.truckingefficiency.org to view completed reports on tire pressure monitoring, 6x2 axles and idle reduction.

1.2 Methodology

Trucking Efficiency’s approach to Confidence Reports is centered on putting together an unbiased team of trucking industry experts who conduct the actual research using a standardized process. For this automated manual and automatic transmission study the core study team included: Paul Menig, CEO Tech-I-M, LLC; Rob Swim, Consultant; Robert Weimer, Consultant; and Mike Roeth, NACFE Executive Director and CWR Trucking Efficiency Operation Lead. In March 2014, the team began interviewing transmission manufacturers, vehicle OEMs that install automated manual and/or automatic transmissions and fleets that use these transmissions. This “360o” technique was used to gather existing data on these technologies, and to uncover any points of industry-wide agreement, as well as areas of confusion. The study team started this research by meeting with suppliers and fleets at the 2014 spring meeting of the Technology & Maintenance Council in Nashville, in order to gain insights into historical operation and experience, and current use and testing of the transmissions. At the 2014 Mid America Trucking Show, the study team participated in several press conferences that included announcements related to electronically controlled transmissions, gained information on production plans, and learned about future features that will improve the benefits of automated manual and automatic transmissions further. From these discussions the team formulated survey questions for suppliers, fleets and drivers. Following these general meetings the study team conducted targeted interviews relating to test data, availability, feature descriptions, and compatibility issues, with five transmission manufacturers, Eaton, Volvo, Daimler, ZF and Allison, and five truck manufacturers, Daimler Trucks North America (Freightliner and Western Star), Volvo, Mack, PACCAR (Peterbilt and Kenworth) and Navistar (International). Nineteen confidential fleet interviews were also conducted by the study team; all 19 of which had some experience with automated manual transmissions. Finally, the team collaborated with the Michelin Fleet Forum to survey medium and smaller fleets about their perceptions of and experiences

http://www.truckingefficiency.org/

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with the various transmission options. Fifty-nine fleets participated in that survey, of which 29 had first-hand knowledge of operating automated manual transmissions. In total, 12,570 automated transmissions are or were being run by the 19 interviewed fleets, and 491 are or were being run by the 29 fleets who responded to the Michelin survey indicating first-hand knowledge. The study team presented its initial findings, drawn from these interviews and surveys, to one final group of fleets, manufacturers and others – participants in Trucking Efficiency Workshops. These workshops are quarterly, regional meetings where small groups discuss and even debate the findings of Trucking Efficiency’s reports. This Confidence Report on transmissions was previewed at the workshops held in Little Rock, AR in June, Indianapolis, IN, in October and Allentown, PA in November.

1.2.1 Preliminary Study Questions used in study team interviews

What is the size and type of service the fleet provides?

What is the fleet’s buying criteria for electronically controlled transmissions?

What is the relative importance of each criteria used in the decision-making process?

What is the transaction price upcharge for electronically controlled transmissions?

What is the fleet’s experience with residual value when it resells vehicles with electronically controlled transmissions? What changes do they see in residual value for these technologies in the future?

What elements do the fleets use in evaluating the payback for this technology?

What are the details of the specific transmissions the fleet has direct experience with? How many trucks has the fleet spec’d with automated manual transmissions? Automatic transmissions?

What has been the fleet’s satisfaction experienced on a 1-5 scale with electronically controlled transmissions? (1 – Very Dissatisfied, 5 – Very Satisfied)?

What was the anticipated driver reaction to the electronically controlled transmissions? What was the actual reaction?

What is the fleet’s future purchase plan for electronically controlled transmissions?

Which products are they most likely to purchase? How many of each type of transmission are they planning to purchase?

Would the fleet recommend electronically controlled transmissions to others?

2 Overview of Currently Available Automated Manual and

Automatic Transmissions

A clear and commonly-understood set of terms is critical for this discussion of automated manual and automatic transmissions. Technically, the term “automatic” is reserved for torque converter hydraulic automatic transmissions, while “automated manual” (commonly abbreviated as “AMTs”) is the term for a mechanical transmission that was automated by adding computers, sensors, and actuators to the shift forks and clutch. Today, however, fleets often use the term “automatic” to refer to any transmission that has some degree of electronic control, including what are properly termed

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“automated manuals.” This can lead to some confusion, as it erases the actual distinctions between the different transmissions types. Therefore, for the purposes of this report, the term “automated manual transmissions” refers consistently to manual gearboxes that have their clutch actuation and gear shifts electronically controlled. Meanwhile the term “automatic transmissions” refers only to those transmissions which feature a torque converter and planetary gearing with disc packs for changing gears– what are now often called “fully automatics” by the industry. In this report, therefore, the term “automatic transmissions” refers only to those manufactured by Allison, as they are currently the only supplier of fully automatic transmissions for over-the-road tractors in North America. All other transmissions referenced are automated manuals. When the two are referred to collectively, the term “electronically controlled” is used.

2.1 History of Automated Manual and Automatic Transmissions

In 1963 Renault announced the Dauphine Transistorized Automatic Transmission for passenger cars, with the claim that “average drivers will get even better results…since the shifting is scientifically calculated to occur at optimum times.” An important feature of this system was the fact that the “new electromagnetic clutch completely disengages during traffic stops, eliminating forward ‘creep’ and fuel waste…” (Grob, 1963). Shortly thereafter, heavy-duty trucks saw a pivotal point in the development of their transmissions with the 1967 filing by the Smyth Brothers for a U.S. Patent that was granted in 1969 (US 3,478,851). This patent was the initial concept for the automated manual transmission for trucks. By the mid-1980s the trucking industry’s options for automated transmissions had grown substantially. Scania had introduced the Computer-Aided Gearshifitng (CAG) transmission, and Mercedes-Benz Trucks had introduced the Electro-Pneumatic Shift (EPS) in Europe. Later that decade Eaton introduced the Converter Enhanced Electronically Managed Automated Transmission (CEEMAT) into the United States market. In the early 1990s, Allison introduced the World Transmission with electronic controls, Eaton introduced AutoSelect and AutoShift transmissions, and Volvo introduced the Powertronic transmission. The four major transmission suppliers in North America today — Allison, Daimler, Eaton and Volvo — all had their first or second-generation products in production by the mid-1990s. Over the next 20 years, each of them worked to gain market share, improve reliability, reduce fuel consumption, improve shifting performance, and lower initial purchase price. Some history of these transmissions is generally described in Figures 5 and 6, both from individual suppliers’ perspectives, and is provided here to show the improvement of designs over the years and the innovations brought forward.

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Figure 5: Development of Automated Manual Transmissions

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Figure 6: Component View of the History for Transmission Automation

Today, all of Allison’s transmissions are electronically controlled transmissions, and nearly 65% of medium-duty trucks are powered by their transmissions. On the heavy-duty side, nearly all buses and new military vehicles are specified with Allison’s fully automatic transmissions. Many vocational Class 8 trucks use Allison automatic transmissions for better drivability in diverse on- and off-road operation. The company’s latest development is the TC10 to address “metro” markets which have a high number of starts and stops. Volvo now reports penetration of automated manual transmissions, their I-Shift, in new vehicle production to be in excess of 70% midway through 2014. The current product line from Volvo is the I-Shift/mDRIVE transmission, and is the third generation of the Volvo Group’s automated manual transmissions. Mack reports that 40% of its trucks are now being specified by fleets with mDRIVE transmissions. Figure 7, was provided by Volvo, and shows the percent of new HD tractors being sold with AMTs in subsequent Volvo and Mack models.

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Figure 7: Volvo and Mack AMT Adoption

Eaton has had the longest availability of these transmissions in North American and has now introduced its fifth generation of automated manuals, the Eaton Fuller Advantage 10-speed automated manual transmission, which has significant integration for improved fuel economy and better drivability performance with Cummins’ engines under the name SmartAdvantage powertrain. Eaton reported to the study team seeing an increase in the sale of automated manual transmissions in recent years compared to the previous two decades. Finally, Daimler now has its fourth generation product available globally, the DT12, with a specific system available for the North American market. And, the company reported being sold out of these systems in 2014, due to production restrictions at its plant in Germany. Capacity will be expanded in 2015 as North American manufacturing will be finalized. Additional details and performance predictions on the systems offered by each of these four suppliers, as well as the insights gained from interviews with them, are available in Chapter 4 of this Confidence Report. Much greater detail on the physics behind the function, as well as the fuel efficiency gains, of electronically controlled transmissions is available in Appendix C of this report.

2.2 Automated Manual Transmissions – Technical Overview

An automated manual transmission combines electronic controls with the architecture of a manual transmission, in order to facilitate automatic gear shifting, generally with optional power modes. In essence, automated manual transmissions use the gearbox of manual transmissions, but shifts are made, under computer control, with actuators for the clutch and the transmission shift forks. Various power modes are available for automated manual transmissions, including for maximum gradeability, maximum retardation and low speed maneuverability, but depending on the manufacturer these modes may be called different things.

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2.3 Automatic Transmissions – Technical Overview

An automatic transmission in a heavy-duty truck is much like a typical automatic transmission in a car. It has planetary gearing with several multi-disc packs for clutches, as well as a torque converter to enable powershifts of the planetary gearing unit that provide the various gear ratios. Automatic transmissions are available with two different modes or calibrations: one for maximum fuel economy when the vehicle is lightly loaded and driving mostly on flat terrain, and the other for when the truck is heavily loaded or traveling on grades, as automatic transmissions prevent drivers from holding a gear too long while climbing or descending a grade.

2.4 Future Developments in Transmissions

Powertrain technology will never stand still. Engines, transmissions, drivelines and axles are continuosly improving their performance, reliability, durability and features. Several new developments in transmissions will be introduced in the coming years. These include:

Hybrid transmissions

Modular transmissions

Dual clutch tranmissions

Additional gears

Lighter weight models Many of these already exist in product development, as early prototypes or as options being introduced on upcoming production models.

3 Benefits and Challenges

This Confidence Report finds that the adoption of electronically controlled transmissions offers five major benefits to fleets. It also finds that there are four major issues or challenges to the adoption of these technologies which fleets should be aware of and prepared to manage. The benefits to be gained from switching away from manual transmissions are:

Improved fuel economy

Reduced variability in fuel economy

Enables the adoption of other beneficial technologies

Improved driver recruitment and retention

Improved driver performance and safety Meanwhile, the potential challenges to the adoption of electronically controlled transmissions today are that these technologies may entail:

Higher upfront costs

Reduced resale values

More costly or more complicated maintenance

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Required reassessment of other aspects of a fleet’s new vehicle specifications

3.1 Benefits

3.1.1 Improved Fuel Economy

Manual transmissions require the driver to shift gears at the appropriate time to maintain torque and speed. If a driver selects a gear unsuitable for the road/load condition at any point as he or she is accelerating or decelerating, a significant waste of fuel can occur. Electronically controlled transmissions take the responsibility for gear shifting out of the drivers’ hands. More detail on the science of electronically controlled transmissions can be found in an Appendix C. Data that the study team received from fleets indicates that electronically controlled transmissions improve their average fuel economy by ensuring that shifting is optimized. That data also showed a mean shift improvement in fuel economy compared to a manual transmission. The efficiency gains offered by electronically controlled transmissions compared to manuals may even increase over time, as traffic congestion, shorter hauls and other factors, such as powertrain optimization, will likely increase shifting frequency, and therefore increase a driver’s opportunities to shift inefficiently. Based on all the data and interviews, the study team believes fleets should expect to see a 1% to 3% improvement in fuel economy when using automated manual transmissions as compared to manuals, and a further improvement when using automatics, in certain, relatively high start and stop operation. Actual results will vary depending on duty cycle, the capability of driver, and how well the driver has been trained to operate a truck with an electronically controlled transmission. One large fleet manager said: “we specified our latest group of truck purchases half with and half without automated manuals. The trucks with AMTs are performing 0.5 mpg better in general freight operations”. Much more detail on the specific gains in fuel economy predicted for the systems from the four North American manufacturers of these technologies is available in the following, Chapter 4.

3.1.2 Reduced Variability in Fuel Economy

The data reported by fleets for this study also confirmed that fleets using electronically controlled transmissions had a much smaller range between the worst and the best fuel economy of the trucks and/or drivers within their fleet, compared to those using manual transmissions. Electronically controlled transmissions make the fuel efficiency of average drivers better, of good drivers slightly better, and of poor drivers much better. The ability for the transmission to be better than a driver is best explained with the help of Figure 8, provided to the study team by Daimler. The red curve shows the typical, nearly symmetrical, bell curve of the fuel economy of drivers using manual transmissions, with the worst drivers on the left, the best drivers on the right, and the majority of drivers somewhere in the middle. The dotted, vertical red line shows the average MPGs for the entire fleet of drivers. The blue curve shows how the adoption of automated manual transmissions shrinks the variance in MPGs between drivers (the curve gets narrower), and moreover results in fewer poor drivers and a higher overall average MPG for the fleet. This is to say, an electronically controlled transmission may not be

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significantly better than the best drivers out there, but is measurably better than many. Certainly, to achieve these results requires not only the adoption of the technology, but also driver training, which will be discussed in more detail in later sections of this chapter.

Figure 8: MPG Performance from a Brochure of the Detroit DT12 Automated Manual Transmission

The study team collected additional data from four of the large fleets it interviewed on the variation in MPGs between the best and worst drivers according to which type of transmission is installed. Figure 9 combines the data from those fleets to show the reduction in the range of MPGs for automated manuals compared to manual transmissions. The standard deviation (blue boxes in the figure) for the automated manuals is cut by more than a third when compared to the manuals. As mentioned, this is due to the fact that the best trained and most capable drivers can shift a manual transmission at close-to or as-good-as the fuel economy obtained by an automated manual transmission. However, transitioning to electronically controlled transmissions will greatly improve the fuel economy of the shifting of the less-skilled drivers in a fleet.

Few Drivers = High MPGs

Few Drivers = Low MPGs

Average of All Drivers with Manuals

Higher Average with Electronically Controlled

Transmissions Note: Numbers are for demonstration purposes only. Not based on actual testing.

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Figure 9: Spread of MPGs between drivers

Along with raising the overall average fuel economy of a fleet, this reduction in the impact of one major variable in determining a fleet’s mile-per-gallon performance; that of driver variation (Figure 9). This allows for a closer assessment of other variables and increased confidence in the analysis of performance data on the fuel efficiency improvements offered by other technologies (aerodynamics, tires, powertrain improvements, etc.). A respondent to the Michelin Fleet Forum survey said: “I like the idea of assisting drivers by removing the manual gearbox and clutch pedal. Additionally, if the claims of increased fuel mileage are correct, it’s worth investigating, since it would be easier to buy this equipment than try to force the drivers to modify their driving habits.”

3.1.3 Enablement of the Adoption of Other Beneficial Technologies

Electronically controlled transmissions can be combined with electronically controlled engines and other powertrain components in order to improve and fine-tune overall powertrain performance for various duty cycles and geographic situations. One example is the trend to downspeeding, which is having the engine run at a lower rpm via lower, faster rear end axle ratios. A benefit of having an engine operate at low rpm with high torque is that it allows the engines to spend more time operating in the load and speed where they yield better fuel economy. But, the result is more frequent shifting in and out of top gear. Cummins analyzed a tractor-trailer with both sets of gearing, see Figure 10 below. The route involves driving for about six hours at road speed along Interstates I-64 and I-65 in Southern Indiana. While there is almost no difference in the time to complete the trip, there is predicted fuel savings that should be measurable. However, there is a huge difference in the number of shifts needed, arguably more than any driver would accomplish reliably. Whereas transmission designers used to use an

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average of one shift every four miles for a transmission at highway speeds, this analysis shows a doubling of shift frequency from one shift every three miles to more than two shifts every three miles.

Figure 10: Downspeed Shifting Doubles

Also, the industry expects the government to continue to press for improvements in its fuel economy and further reductions in its greenhouse gas emissions, and new technologies will be vital to the industry’s ability to meet these expectations. Electronically controlled transmissions will be key among such technologies, particularly given their ability to enable the adoption of additional fuel saving technologies. For example, the integration with the powertrain offered by electronically controlled transmissions can be combined with Global Positioning Systems’ (GPS) information and telematics to allow for the use of smaller engines which run at reduced engine speeds, thereby saving fuel and improving the operation of cruise control in rolling hills. Another system which interacts with the transmission electronics to both improve fuel economy and safety include predictive cruise control, which uses information from navigation satellites to know when the rolling hills are coming and optimizes gear shifting to handle those hills. Moreover, with regards to safety, forward collision warning systems with emergency braking use the features of electronically controlled transmissions to control torque to the wheels during emergencies and automatically shift to maintain a safe distance to the vehicle in front, by helping to slow the vehicle as needed. In an emergency a vehicle may need to be brought to a complete stop, requiring quick

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action from the transmission. Letting the computers of electronically controlled transmissions adapt to the changing power demand of such situations will be faster and more accurate than any human response time a driver could achieve.

3.1.4 Improved Driver Recruitment and Retention

The trucking industry seems to always be concerned with finding a sufficient supply of capable drivers to operate commercial vehicles; a concern which is heightened today with the economy growing stronger and baby boomers retiring. The industry knows that the successful recruiting, training, and retention of drivers is heavily influenced by signing bonuses, types of equipment, and the ease of operation of that equipment. With signing bonuses at some fleets estimated to be between $3,000 to $7,000, and the cost of training a new driver estimated at $7,000, any improvement in retention can mean real savings to a fleet. Because they are easier (less tiring) to drive, and because many younger people have no experience with manual transmissions at all given that the vast majority of passenger cars are now automatics, trucking industry experts believe that electronically controlled transmissions will open the pool of available drivers significantly, and moreover will encourage a driver to sign on with a certain fleet and help to retain those drivers once hired. Fleets should therefore consider factoring these reductions in recruiting, training, and retention costs into their payback calculations when evaluating electronically controlled transmissions. Each fleet will have to assign a value to those factors based on their knowledge of their own operations and their specific current costs for these aspects of driver management. Respondents to the Michelin Fleet survey conducted for this Confidence Report commented on the impact of electronically controlled transmissions on drivers:

“In Southern California, automatic [electronically controlled] transmissions are great from a driver perspective once they get past the ‘it’s a trucker thing to shift manually.’ It is much easier in traffic to have an automatic or semi-automatic [automated manual] transmission.”

“Drivers once they get in one don’t want to go back to manuals. [They] are so much easier to drive.”

“At first [drivers] didn’t like the [automated] transmissions, but within a month their opinions changed.”

“Didn’t want to drive them at first, but told me later they were wrong and like them very much.”

3.1.5 Improved Driver Performance and Safety

Electronically controlled transmissions improve driver attention because they allow the driver to concentrate on the road ahead rather than having to worry about shifting, and also allow the driver to keep both hands on the wheel at all times. Today, drivers have increasing amounts of other things in the cab to distract them while driving, so removing something will improve their concentration on the road. In addition, drivers will suffer lower rates of fatigue in trucks equipped with electronically controlled transmissions. In one of the study team’s interviews a fleet executive shared their experience that: “automated transmissions reduce task saturation, and can result in fewer worker’s comp claims.”

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Fleets will have to conduct driver training on the proper use of electronically controlled transmissions (although much less training than required for the proper use of manual transmissions). For example, in some specific safety or performance situations, a driver must still be capable of manually shifting their automated manual transmission. One thing that can help with driver training and the optimization of driver performance is that some of the same engine controls which provide fleets with information on idle time or time spent in cruise can also provide information on time spent in automated vs manual shift mode. Trucks with electronically controlled transmissions are easier to drive requiring less effort. A husband and wife owner-operator team, driving over 200,000 miles per year shared: “we love our new truck with the automated manual transmission. It is much easier to drive and allows us both to get a better rest while sleeping in the bunk while the other drives.”

3.2 Adverse Consequences/Challenges

3.2.1 Upfront Cost

Many factors will ultimately influence the actual purchase cost of these transmissions. Generally, automated manual transmissions are estimated to cost between $3,000 and $5,000 more than manual transmissions, and the fleets interviewed by the study team for this report confirmed this, indicating that they either have paid or expect to pay $3,000 to $5,000 more for a new tractor with an automated manual transmission compared to just a manual transmission. Respondents to the Michelin Fleet Survey suggested that the upcharge for an automated manual transmission averaged about $5,000. These responses came from small and medium-sized fleets, who often pay slightly higher prices lacking the negotiating power that comes with large scale, and therefore it makes sense that they would report the higher end of the price range, while the larger fleets interviewed by the study team saw some lower prices. Automatic transmissions are estimated to cost more than automated manuals, but market cost data on these transmissions is not yet available as the product has only been available for a few months, it is expected that automatic transmissions will cost anywhere from $3,000 to $11,000 more than AMTs.

3.2.2 Resale Value

According to industry sources, automated manual transmissions today bring $1,000 to $1,500 less on the resale market than similar trucks with manual transmissions. However, most fleet managers have not yet traded or sold their trucks that are equipped with the more recent automated manuals or even automatic transmissions, and they indicated to the study team that the residual value for trucks with automated manual transimissions will actually be on a par with similar trucks specified with manual transmissions when trucks purchased now are ready for resale four to six years in the future.

3.2.3 Maintenance

Electronically controlled transmissions have more parts than a manual transmission, therefore it is reasonable to expect increased maintenance costs. Also, since these additional parts are computers, sensors and actuators, diagnosing and repairing issues is likely to be more complicated. However, the

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fact that such transmissions place a lighter load on clutches should lead to longer clutch life, potentially balancing out the costs overall. This will be an area for improved data over time as the latest products begin to move through their product lifecycle. Early versions of automated manual transmissions had very high maintenance and repair costs, and in fact the earliest versions were considered by the industry to be unacceptably unreliable. Newer versions are showing significant improvements in those areas, but maintenance costs for these products are difficult to predict, as the bulk of the trucks equipped with new electronically controlled transmissions are still in their initial warranty coverage period. In any case, a lingering perception of uncertainity over reliability, combined with limited data on maintence costs for today’s products, may be hampering adoption rates of electronically controlled transmissions. As the final chapter of conclusions will discuss in more depth, this Confidence Report finds that current versions of electronically controlled transmissions seem to offer the needed reliability.

3.2.4 Specification Issues

In order to obtain the maximum benefit from electronically controlled transmission technology, careful attention needs to be taken in specifying the engine, transmission, axles, tires and road speed combination of the overall truck. Hardware and software decisions made in the past, regarding things such as engine ratings, rear axle ratios, adaptive cruise control, long droop road speed limits, and road speed, will simply not work when incorporating these transmissions into a fleet. Drivers will then need to be trained on this full suite of new specifications, as some may require changes in the driver’s behavior from what they may be accustomed to. Fleets shared that some of their first attempts to procure and test electronically controlled transmissions did not provide the expected improvements in fuel economy performance, but that once they optimized their overall vehicles to their particular duty cycle the improvements materialized. This confirms how important it is to consider all of the various powertrain components and their parameter settings in order to fully take advantage of electronically controlled transmissions.

4 Overview of Specific Systems and Manufacturer Perspectives

Chapter 4 details the products offered by the four transmission manufacturers with technologies on the market in North America today. It also shares the perspectives of those manufacturers and their associated in-house or independent truck builders regarding electronically controlled transmissions, including insights which contributed to the study team’s findings of the benefits and challenges offered by these systems discussed in Chapter 3. The four manufacturers covered here are Allison, Eaton, Volvo (for Volvo and Mack Trucks), and Detroit (for Daimler Trucks), along with the two truck builders of Kenworth and Navistar. Additional information along with a comparison sheet is available in the Appendix. Although the study team also spoke with personnel from transmission manufacture ZF, information on the company’s products is not included in this report because the company is not selling into the Class 8 truck market in the U.S.

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The availability of automated manual and automatic transmissions in Class 8 Over-the-Road Tractors (as of November 2014) is shown in (Figure 11). A comparison chart for the various features from each of the four transmission manufacturerrs is available as a tool published along with this Confidence Report and is shown in Appendix B.

Figure 11: Engine and Transmission Offerings by Truck Builder

4.1 Allison

4.1.1 System Overview

Allison makes a wide range of fully automatic transmissions, including the 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 product families, as well as off-highway and defense transmissions, and hybrid transmissions (H 40/50 EP and H 3000). This report includes the Allison TC-10, which was introduced in 2013 and developed for over-the-road Class 8 tractors, and for “metro” markets which have a high number of starts and stops. The product is available from Navistar for International trucks, but very few had been purchased as this report’s publication. The TC-10 is different than other Allison transmissions in that it features a “blended” design that combines a twin countershaft transmission typical of manual and automated manual transmissions with a torque converter interface to the engine, rather than a dry/wet clutch. The torque converter is engaged only at launch, lowering cooling requirements and protecting the drivetrain. This feature can provide better startability, getting the tractor and trailer moving, with the torque multiplication of the torque converter. For example, urban and regional hauls of frozen foods that have a high weight could benefit from this feature. The TC-10 automatic transmission has 10 forward and two reverse gears, and weighs 1,030 pounds. It has a 5-year/750,000 mile warranty. Its availability at the vehicle OEMs is currently limited to Navistar MaxxForce 13, but other OEM releases are being pursued. As mentioned in Chapter 2, today, all of Allison’s transmissions are electronically controlled transmissions, and nearly 65% of medium-duty trucks are powered by their transmissions. On the

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heavy-duty side, nearly all buses and new military vehicles are specified with Allison’s fully automatic transmissions. Many vocational Class 8 trucks use Allison automatic transmissions for better drivability in diverse on- and off-road operation.

4.1.2 Manufacturer’s Perspective

In its interview with the study team, Allison reported that, in its experience, fleets buy automatic transmissions for fuel economy, productivity, better warranties, and driver hiring and retention. Allison believes its products offer big productivity gains (rapid and smooth acceleration) because of their power shift capability. Allison says that its data from 100 fleets running the fully automatic TC10 over two years in real world routes with their own trucks shows a 5% gain in fuel efficiency compared to manual transmissions. Granted, this data is largely derived from urban/regional driving, which entails lower average speeds, more shifting in the lower gears, and a higher number of starts/stops than long-haul trucking. However, with many fleets moving to shorter hauls, not to mention an increase in traffic congestion across much of the nation, these transmissions may offer similar gains and be a good choice for some freight operations.

4.2 Daimler Truck North America


Daimler has been making automated manual transmissions for three decades, but only recently has a version of its product, the DT12, been made available in North America under the Detroit branded components group. It is available in both Freightliner and Western Star tractors. Currently its production is done in Germany, which results in some capacity limitations, due to the high penetration of automated transmissions in Europe when combined with a recent surge of demand in the U.S. Plans have been announced to begin production in Detroit in late 2015. Even with this production limitation, Daimler is expecting automated manual transmission to be purchased on about 20% to 25% of their on-highway sales in 2014. The company expects this percentage to increase dramatically when it can build more DT12s. The DT12 transmission is available in all Cascadia models with all Detroit engines. The DT12 launched at Western Star in late 2014. Daimler offers two versions of the automated manual transmissions, one for the DD12 engine and one for DD15 and DD16 engines. Their smaller transmission weighs 100 pounds less than a manual equivalent and their larger transmission is 30 pounds lighter than the equivalent manual. The small transmission is approved to 80,000 GCWR and the larger one to 120,000 GCWR. Currently, Daimlier does not offer a Power Take Off option, but says it will be available later. There is a data book upcharge for an automated manual transmision vs a manual transmission of about $4,500. The standard warranty is 5 years/750,000 miles with a 3-year/350,000 mile warranty on the clutch.

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Daimler says it has test results that show the DT12 delivers between a 1% and 3% improvement in fuel efficiency. The range is based on the amount of eCoast active time. (eCoast relies on intelligent and advanced electronic controls to allow the vehicle to coast on downgrades. While the engine is idling, the drag parasitic energy losses are decreased and the vehicle can fully use its momentum to travel further up and down a hill.) In correlation to the 1% to 3% gains Daimler claims to see a 10% to25% range of eCoast active time. Daimlier believes one of the key benefits of the DT12 vs other transmissions is that it allows for full vehicle features integration, which can lead to 4% to 5% better efficiency. Commonly called vertical integration in the industry, the concept is that as the company offers the widest range of inhouse capability to deliver the total truck, engine, etc. package more finely tuned and complete integration can occur delivering higher levels of efficiency.

4.3 Eaton


Eaton has the largest product range of automated manual transmissions for both on-road and off-road applications, due to Eaton having the longest time supplying the technology. The majority of their automated manual options are built off of their Fuller Advantage Series of 10-speed heavy-duty transmissions. These are lighter by 75 pounds compared to past Eaton automated manuals, because they feature more aluminum, do not have an external oil cooler, have 12 fewer feet of hoses, and require 7 fewer pints of oil. Other Fuller Advantage Series features inculde small gear step technology, two top gears that allow for engine down speeding, (1100 rpm at 65 mph), and integration with Cummins fuel maps. Eaton and Navistar specifically released the Fuller Advantage “small step” transmission optimized to work with the Navistar MaxxForce 13L engine. There is a $1,200 to $1,400 upcharge for the Fuller Advantage Series. Eaton also offers the UltraShift PLUS Series, which is available in six models for linehaul and vocational use. Among these, the UltraShift PLUS Linehaul Series is built on the Fuller 10-speed manual, and uses an electronic clutch actuator for shifitng in a two-pedal design with no clutch pedal. This model’s torque capacities range from 1450 lb-ft through 1850 lb-ft. Another of its models, the UltraShift PLUS Performance Series, is built on the Fuller 13- and 18-speed transmissions, with torque capacitites ranging from 1450 lb-ft to 2250 lb-ft. A third model, the Vocational Series UltraShift Plus, has extended low and reverse gear ratio coverage, and torque capacities ranging from 1050 lb-ft to 2250 lb-ft. For use in natural gas trucks, the Ultrashift PLUS became available in the summer of 2014 with Cummins- Westport ISX12G engine. It is the first automated manual transmission that can be used with a natural gas engine. Navistar offers a special 16-speed version of the Eaton UltraShift PLUS, called the “LSE,” for “Linehaul Small-Step Efficiency.” In this version, manual override is available, and driveline protection features

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include stall prevention, engine over-speed protection, clutch abuse protection, auto gear select and hill start aid. This version uses a different base transmission than used for the Eaton automated manuals installed with Cummins and PACCAR engines. Eaton also offers engine integration with their transmissions in a system known as “SmartAdvantage powertrain,” which combines the Cummins ISX15 with the Eaton Fuller Advantage 10-speed automated manual transmission. In this system the engine and the transmission share critical data to determine the torque required to deliver the needed power levels, thus allowing cruise at 1145 rpm at 65 mph with 2.64 rear axle ratio. The SmartAdvantage was first introduced in the Volvo VNL. It was then introduced with PACCAR MX13 in Peterbilt and Kenworth models – the Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579. Peterbilt branded this engine/transmission package ‘APEX,’ while Kenworth did not brand its version of the MX13 with the SmartAdvantage powertrain. SmartAdvantage will be available featuring the Cummins ISX12 in late 2014. Eaton shared data from back-to-back experience at Cal Ark on 50 units with SAE/TMC Type IV test comparing a 2013 ISX with Ultrashift PLUS against the SmartAdvantage package, and found resulting in a 3-6% MPG improvement.

4.3.2 Manufacturer’s Perspective Due to the long history of supplying automated manual transmissions for the US market and the wide range of product offerings, Eaton shared that there is confusion in nomenclature throughtout the market. This has hindered some of the understanding of the product improvements over time.

4.4 Volvo


Volvo’s I-Shift line of automated manual transimissions was introduced into North America concurrently with the EPA 2007 emission regulations, though Volvo had already sold 100,000 I-Shift transmissions elsewhere in the world prior to this. The I-Shift is third generation of the Volvo Group’s automated manual transmissions. The I-Shift is only available with Volvo 13L, 16L, and the new 11L engines and is standard in Volvo tractors. Volvo is currently expanding vocational coverage to dump trucks and snow plows, but at this point will not cover mixers or refuse vehicles. Volvo also offers the Cummins ISX with Eaton Ultrashift PLUS, but estimates the Volvo engine share within their truck production at 87%. When this transmission is installed in Mack Trucks it is called the Mack mDRIVE, and this is available in Mack’s Pinnacle tractors with MP7 and MP8 engines – in fact it was recently made standard in these tractors. I-Shift features inlude a dash-mounted push button controller in addition to the traditional “cobra head” stick near the driver’s seat, as some larger drivers were having difficulty with the original location of the stick. The I-Shift is offered with four software packages/modes:

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Fuel Economy Basic Family—no manual shift buttons, no “E/P” (Efficiency/Power) button

Performance Premium Family—manual shift buttons and “E/P” button

Comprehensive Premium Family—manual shift buttons and “E/P” button

Gentle-Shift Premium Family—manual shift buttons and “E/P” button In 2010 Volvo introduced new “rock out” and “power launch” features to its software modes. “Rock out” is used when the truck is stuck in the snow or mud, and involves a process of carefully pressing and releasing the accelerator to ease the vehicle forward or backwards. “Power launch” uses full engine torque to get stuck vehicles moving. The warranty for an I-Shift transmission depends on its torque ratings:

For torques less than 1751 lb-ft: 5 years/50,000 miles/15,000 hours

For torques greater than 1751 lb-ft: 3 years/500,000 miles/12,500 hours While the warranty for the clutch depends on duty cycle:

Normal Duty: 3 years/300,000 miles/7500 hours

Heavy Duty: 3 years/250,000 miles/6250 hours

Severe Duty: 1 year/100,000 miles/3250 hours Since the Volvo I-Shift and mDRIVE are now standard in respective Volvo and Mack trucks, it is not easy to determine the option price. It is possible to change the transmission to a manual transmission.


As mentioned in Chapter 2, Volvo now reports penetration of its automated manual transmissions to be in excess of 70% in new vehicle production, while Mack reports that 40% of its trucks are specified with the technology. Volvo emphasizes improved driver productivity and safety, suggesting that their automated manual transmissions will help fleets attract and retain drivers, thus saving training costs. Volvo reported that it has proprietary information from fleet studies that have shown the I-Shift has an improvement in fuel saving compared to an average driver with a manual transmission, including a testimonial (available online) from the fleet Holland Special Delivery. In 2010 Holland Special Delivery did a 600-mile test run in a Volvo VN 670 equipped with a 475 hp Volvo SCR engine with Eco-Torque and Volvo I-Shift transmission. Marvin Vissner, Holland COO, said that based on test results he expected to get in excess of 8 mpg with the engine/transmission combination, and that his fleet had been averaging 7.5 mpg, achieving about a 6% improvement. The study team for this Confidence Report did not independently verify this data.

4.5 Kenworth: Perspective

Kenworth partnered with Eaton in North America for both of their engine/transmission options: Cummins/Eaton and PACCAR MX/Eaton, and reported to the study team that it spent a great deal of

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time on integration between the engines and the transmissions in order to ensure maximum fuel economy and driveability.

In the company’s experience, the #1 motivation for a fleet’s chosing to adopte automated manual tranmsisisons is to take driver variability out of the fuel-economy equation, and make sure that less-experienced drivers improve their average fuel economy. Safety is another big reason that fleets turn to automated manual transmisions, due to their removal of driver distractions. For fleets considering adoption, Kenworth suggests starting by equiping 20-50 trucks with automated manual transmissions, in order to determine their performance and driver acceptance before determining if more trucks should be spec’d with automated manual transmissions.

Other trends noted in the interview were that, in their experience, automated manual transmisions used to be about 15% of the market, but are now achieving about 20% to 25% penetration. Kenworth anticipates this rising to 30% to 50% over the next five years, and has set similar targets for increasing its own business.

Finally, Kenworth noted a trend toward downspeeding and downsizing, but cautioned that noise, vibration, and harshness performance must be watched so that additional problems are not created at the slower speeds. They are working now on downspeeding a Cummins 15 liter engine.

4.6 Navistar: Perspective

Navistar is the only truck builder currently offering the Allison automatic transmission for urban and regional over the road trucks and has the largest range of transmission offerings of the truck builders as they have also incorporated the many Eaton automated manual transmission offerings over the years. Navistar commented to the study team that 2014 was a transition year, where suddenly almost all over-the-road trucking fleets are requesting information on automated manuals or automatic transmissions. However, automatic transmissions are still seeing very limited adoption by Class 8 long-haul trucks; they are being considered more commonly for the urban tractor application, which entails with significant start and stop operation in certain terrains. Navistar shared that the current approximate upcharge for their automated manual transmissions is $3,000 to $5,000. Moreover, at this time there is no resale premium for a truck equipped with an automated manual transmission, which represents an improvement over the past when such trucks actually had a lower resale value than trucks with manual transmissions. Finally, Navistar observed that it is too early to predict the maintenance costs of the “new generation” of automated manual transmissions.

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5 Insights from Fleets

The following are some key perspectives shared by fleets in the study team’s interviews and online Michelin Fleet Forum survey. These perspectives all related to automated manual transmissions, as the end users do not yet have much experience with automatic transmissions.

5.1 Overall Fleet Satisfaction with Automated Manual Transmissions

Satisfaction with the various products available over time was asked in both data collection efforts; the Fleet interviews and the internet based Michelin Fleet Forum. Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with various products in order for the study team to understand the general satisfaction with these products and, how it may have changed over time. Ratings were defined as: 1 - Very Dissatisfied, 3 - Neutral, 5 - Very Satisfied. As might be expected, satisfaction with new generations of these products is higher than the older products (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Satisfaction with AMTs over Time

Fleet satisfaction with automated manual transmissions has been improving over the years. Specifically, fleets shared that the functionality of the transmissions, predominately the shift reliability as reported by drivers, has improved significantly with ongoing release of new generations of products. (Shift reliability is the expectation of drivers that the transmission will shift at appropriate times given various conditions such as hills/topography, weather, traffic, maneuverability, etc.) Other criteria have also improved, including reliability, durability and reparability, according to both the large fleets interviewed and the Michelin Fleet Forum survey respondents.

NACFE Fleets Michelin Forum

Number of Fleets 19 Fleets 29 Fleets

Number of AMTs Operated 12,570 491

Eaton AutoSelect 1,575 5 1 - 3

Eaton AutoShift 1,500 50 2 - 4

Eaton UltraShift 3,685 15 3.5 - 5

Eaton UltraShift Plus 1,304 100 3 - 4

Eaton UltraShift Advantage 0 48 -

Volvo I-Shift 3,067 0 4 - 5

Mack mDRIVE 427 100 4 - 5

Daimler DT-12 1,012 150 4 - 5

Allison TC-10 0 23 -

Number of Fleets and AMTs Operated

by Product Type Satisfaction

Score Range

Experience with

Automated Manuals

(Oldest listed first):

17-Dec-14 34

5.2 Perspectives: NACFE Fleet Interviews

During the research for this Confidence Report, nineteen confidential interviews were conducted with relatively large fleets, defined as operating at least 1,000 Class 8 tractors and all of whom had some experience with automated manual transmission. In total, 12,570 AMTs are or were being run by the 19 interviewed fleets. A few have been testing automatic transmissions, but the following perspectives are for automated manual transmissions. The below insights on automated manual transmissions, as well as key considerations for their adoption of, were drawn by synthesizing and summarizing the observations provided by the fleets in those interviews.

Experience with automated manual transmisions: There is a lot of varied experience at fleets, as interviewees had operated all of the automated manual transmissions available over the last few decades on at least some of their trucks at some point in time. Motivation for Adoption: Gains in fuel economy was cited as the primary motivation for these fleets to switch to automated manual transmissions, followed by driver recruiting and training, operating cost reduction and safety. Price: In the experience of these fleets, automated manual transmissions will carry an incremental price increase of $3,000 to $5,000 in the purchase price of a new truck over one specified with a manual transmission. With scale and more suppliers this might even reduce further. Residual Value: The fleets communicated that it is too early to conclusively tell what the impact of automated manual transmissions will be on the resale value of a truck, given the fact that the majority of the vehicles they have purchased with automated manuals were purchased recently and have not yet been resold. However most stated that they are planning on the residual value to be equal to or better than a truck specified with a manual transmission when the trucks they purchase today are sold in a few years. Payback Calculation Methods: There is a great deal of variation in payback depending upon the fleet, but they usually take into account purchase price, operating expense, and residual value as key components. They stated that they are confident in their data on purchase price and fuel economy, but that there is little data on maintenance cost (most are still under warranty) nor on residual value. Driver Reactions: The fleets unanimously commented that their drivers at first did not like the automated manual transmisions, primarily due to the fact that early generations of these products, in spite of providing overall good functionality, still had moments where they did not shift smoothly or at the time when drivers wanted them to. But later, as the technology matured, drivers agreed that it now has a positive impact on their work in all driving situations. A key insight from these fleets’ experience was that the success of the transition to automated manual tranmissions depended on how well the drivers were prepared by their employers to make the switch. Future Purchase Plans: Fleets were unanimous in the fact that they would try automated manual transmissions, but that their adoption rate will be heavily predicated on payback (real or percieved). They stated that they will monitor all the elements of their payback calculation and make choices

17-Dec-14 35

accordingly. However, many mentioned that automated manual transmissions seem to be the transmission of choice for the future. Final Thoughts: Most experienced fleets recognize that inertia is pushing them towards automated manual transmissions, simply due to the pool of potential new drivers having no experience with manuals. Additional motivating factors for adoption included driver safety and fatigue issues, as well as future government fuel consumption mandates that will require a “smart” transmission in the powertrain to take advantage of complementary technology opportunities. When asked if they would recommend automated manual transmissions, all fleets said they would.

5.3 Michelin Fleet Forum Survey Respondents

Members of the Michelin Fleet Forum, an online community of 200+ members ranging from owner-operators to fleet managers at small to mid-size trucking companies, were surveyed about their perceptions and usage of automated manual and automatic transmission. A total of 59 fleets responded — 34 recognized as medium fleets and 25 as small fleets. Twenty-nine of the 59 respondents currently have automated manual or automatic transmissions in some of their vehicles. An additional six indicated that they previously had automated manual or automatic transmissions in their fleet. The fleets which had operated these transmissions indicated that benefits they have enjoyed from them included ease of use, improved driver hiring and retention, and better fuel economy. However, they cited their concerns about these transmissions (which may be hindering adoption) as including: upfront cost, shift reliability, and the need to tow the vehicle during emergency roadside events. Fleets who are using automated manual or automatic transmissions considered things like reliability, durability, safety issues, fuel savings, driver issues, lower operating/maintenance costs, and productivity when making the decision to switch to atuomated manual or automatic transmissions. One survey respondent said: “[they provide] better efficiency and drivers actually like them better after they get used to them.” Another respondent said: “with the new engines, automated manual transmissions improve the mpg; in some cases up to 4% or better.” The 20.3% of survey respondents in the Michelin Fleet study who said they would never adopt automated manual or automatic transmissions said cost, lack of control in bad weather, and too high of a frequency of repairs were the reasons for their decision.

17-Dec-14 36

6 Payback Calculator

Along with the information collected in this Confidence Report, the study team created a payback calculator for fleets to use when considering technologies for adoption. The Trucking Efficiency Operation releases a Payback Calculator alongside each of its Confidence Reports. These tools entail a series of fields where fleets can input various data that pertains to their specific operation. A description of the fields included in the Payback Calculator for automated manual transmissions are shown below. The lack of data to date on automatic transmissions, due to it being a very new option for the Class 8 tractor-trailer segment, means that they could not be included in this Payback Calculator. How to use the Payback Calculator: Numerous items should be included in a cost analysis of any new technology that a fleet may be considering; items which consider both the benefits and the consequences of adoption. Monetizing all of the benefits and challenges of adoption, or as many as possible, helps in decision making. The Payback Calculator is an incremental analysis tool designed to compare two or more of the situations and/or equipment selections available to a fleet, using the fleet’s own data, or at least their own best estimates. The following are 9 cost elements which have proven to have a direct bearing on the successful introduction of automated manual transmissions, and which will impact the payback and overall value which a fleet might see from adoption. Four of these metrics are aspects of the direct cost of adoption, four are aspects of the operating costs of adoption, and the final metric considers the potential impact on a truck’s resale value as a result of adoption. The results of the payback calculation are presented in two forms: total of year-over-year saving, and payback in months. Total savings/loss in a year is calculated after taking into account all of the direct costs, incentives, societal benefits, operating cost, resale value, while the payback in months is a common calculation by fleets as their primary data for decision making. Direct Costs

1. Purchase Price The purchase price of the new technology installed as a part of the truck. Many of the fleets interviewed for this confidence report indicated they not only consider the direct cost, but also the cost of capital, as a part of this estimate. If adoption will incur other capital costs for things like infrastructure these should also be included.

2. Incentives

Sometimes truck and equipment manufacturerrs give very favorable introductory pricing and/or rebates for early adopters of new technologies. Local, state, or federal governments may also give a limited-time special rebate or tax abatement in order to encourage the

17-Dec-14 37

adoption of new more environmentally friendly technology. Fleets may stay aware of these opportunities through their local trucking associations, governments or other associations.

3. Societal Benefits

Environmentally minded companies may have built this into their brand image as something which is viewed favorably by their customers, and therefore they will benefit from promoting their adoption of environmentally friendly technologies. The study team encourages monetizing this whenever possible in terms of additional business revenue, higher pricing, etc. but such data can be presented as a “+”, “=”, or “-" in a payback calculator, and used in decision making on the adoption of the technology.

4. Usage

The fleet should consider the amount of time the piece of equipment will be in use in order to spread the direct cost and/or operational cost over the life cycle of the vehicle. Some fleets are on a three-to-four year trade cycle, while other fleets, especially private carriers, commonly keep their equipment much longer. This will have a major impact in determining whether a new technology provides an acceptable payback period for a fleet.

Operating Costs

1. Fuel Fuel savings are generally offered by the technologies highlighted by the Trucking Efficiency Operations. In this field fleets input the level in percent of fuel savings predicted for the technology being evaluated.

2. Driver/Operator Impact

The study team heard from a number of fleets that driver impact is an underappreciated factor in determining whether electronically controlled transmissions will make sense for a fleet or not. The cost of driver impact for any new technology is not precisely measurable in dollar figures, but fleet owners must thoroughly understand how drivers will be impacted by adoption. In attempting to determine this factor, the technology should be reviewed against driver recruiting, training, and retention costs, as well as any potential opportunities for safety cost improvements. New technology should always be introduced in a way that has a minimal negative impact on the driver, and it is important that drivers be part of the implementation process. A number of fleets interviewed for this Confidence Report indicated that the more time that they invested in bringing the driver into the process, the more successful their implementation. For the payback calculator, the fleet inputs the driver turnover today, in the baseline column, and the new level once introducing the AMTs.

3. Maintenance Improvement/Deficit

Increased or decreased maintenance and repair costs should be considered including changes to maintenance intervals. Also, there may be other costs associated with specialized tooling, training costs, and maintenance parts costs.

4. Other Operating Costs

17-Dec-14 38

There may be other costs affected by the adoption of any new technology. Resale Value New technologies can result in price premiums or deficits to the value of the used truck at trade in or in the secondary marketplace. Consultation with the truck manufacturer, selling dealers and used truck sales companies about the potential impact of resale price should be included in a payback calculation. Given the input received from the various stakeholder groups; transmission manufacturers, truck builders, fleets, etc., the team has created two sample calculations that are believed to be appropriate for some fleet operations. The payback time ranged from 15 to 20 months. These can be used as a starting point for fleets to input their specific data.

17-Dec-14 39

NACFE Study Payback Calculator: Automated Manual Transmissions

Baseline Alternative 1 Alternative 2

Gray boxes are for user inputs

Direct Cost

Option or Cost Premium (3,000.00)$ (4,000.00)$

Incentives

Tax, Industry, and/or other incentives -$

Grants, rebates -$

Total Incentives -$ -$

Societal Benefits

Improved Emissions - Air, Noise etc. yes no

Usage

Miles per vehicle per year 125,000 125,000 125,000

Years of anticipated Use 4 4 4

Operating Costs

Fuel

Fuel Economy Improvement Percentage 3% 3%

Fuel Expense per mile 0.65$ 0.63$ 0.63$

Fuel Expense per year per truck 81,250$ 78,813$ 78,813$

Fuel savings per year per truck 2,438$ 2,438$

Driver/Operator Impact

Driver Turnover per Year in percent 100% 75% 90%

Number of Drivers 100 100 100

Number of Trucks in Fleet 100 100 100

Number of Drivers per Truck per Year 1 0.75 0.9

Driver Recruiting Cost per Driver 1,000$

Driver Training Cost per Driver 5,000$

Driver Recruiting Cost Savings per Driver 250$ 100$

Driver Training Cost Savings per Driver 5,000$ 1,250$ 500$

Total Recruiting & Training Savings 6,000.00$ 1,500$ 600$

Safety Cost Improvement (Cost/Year) -$ -$ -$

Total Driver/Operator Impact 1,500$ 600$

17-Dec-14 40

Figure 13: Payback Calculator for AMTs

The working Payback Calculator can be downloaded at http://www.truckingefficiency.org/powertrain/automated-manual-transmissions.

NACFE Study Payback Calculator: Automated Manual Transmissions

Maintenance Improvement/Deficit

Additional Maintenance Cost/Year (10)$ (10)$

Additional Specialized Tooling Cost/Year (100)$ (100)$

Additional Mechanic Training Cost/Year (10)$ (10)$

Reduced Maintenance Cost/Mile -$ -$

Additional Consumable or Fluid Cost/Year (100)$ (100)$

Other Vehicle Related Cost

Improvements/Liabilities Cost per Year -$ -$

Total Maintenance Improvement/Deficit (220)$ (220)$

Other Operating Cost Change/Year -$ -$

Resale Value or Impact

Penalty / Benefit at end of first owner life -$ -$

Payback in months (costs upfront) 15 20

Payback in months (costs amortized monthly) 10 18

ROI (end of year 4) 3.96 1.82

How to use:

This Payback calculator is principally an incremental analysis tool designed to compare two or more situations

Note: All costs should be entered as a negative numbers which usually means the number is entered in parentheses

i.e.. A $4000. cost is entered as (4000). Conversely a $4000. savings is noted as 4000.

http://www.truckingefficiency.org/powertrain/automated-manual-transmissions

17-Dec-14 41

7 Best Practices for Adoption

During the course of its discussions with the OEMs and fleets, the study team uncovered two major Best Practices that fleets should consider when moving to electronically controlled transmissions: the thoughtful specification of the truck’s total package of equipment, and the involvement of the driver in the adoption of new technology.

7.1 Specification of Equipment

Historical rules of thumb may no longer apply when it comes to specifying trucks with electronically controlled transmisions. It is imperative that a fleet purchasing new trucks with new technologies such as electronically controlled transmissions assess its own operation carefully to make sure that the specs match its needs. While this is not new, the consequences of not doing this well is more significant to meaningful payback when automated manual or automatic transmissions are being adopted. For example, opportunities exist to fine tune the powertrain for maximum fuel efficinecy, including:

Engine horsepower and torque

Electonic engine parameter settings

Rear axle ratios

Tires Fleets should consult the truck builder and manufacturerrs of all of the above components to be certain they will perform well together in the overall truck specification.

7.2 Driver Involvement

The fleets interviewed for this Confidence Report who have had the most success to date with the adoption of automated manual transmissions talked repeatedly about the need to explain to the driver what this new technology is all about and how it is going to help the company without penalizing the driver. The driver wants to know how the change will “feel” when the truck is in operation, and how to use the systems correctly. The driver also needs to be trainied on how to manually control the transmissions in certain situation to avoid safetfy incidents, while knowing that if he or she manually controls the transmission during non-severe conditions the fuel savings will be dramatically reduced. Finally, it helps if the fleet has a driver monitoring process, to determine which drivers are not getting the full advantage from the technology, determine the cause(s) of that, and to help change their behavior.

17-Dec-14 42

8 Conclusions and Recommendations

After 25 years of development globally and in North America, the status of electronically controlled transmissions today and for the future can be summarized in three key messages:

Electronically controlled transmissions are ready for prime time: Electronically controlled transmissions have been on the market for decades, and many manufacturers are now offering their third, fourth, and even fifth generation products on the market. These products have proven to be reliable and durable, and end user satisfaction levels with today’s products are high – given our end user data collection and as attested to by their relatively high adoption rates.

Electronically controlled transmissions offer a good business case for adoption: Today, the business case for electronically controlled transmissions has improved due to the fuel savings now delivered by more mature designs and low operating costs, both for an acceptable initial purchase price. Fuel savings of 1% to 3% are available from automated manual transmissions, with automatic transmissions offering potentially higher savings. The technologies also reduce the variation in fuel economy between the various drivers in a fleet. Other factors that make the business case for adoption today quite strong include driver recruiting and retention, since many driver candidates today have no experience with manual transmissions, and improved safety, as drivers can keep both hands on the wheel.

Electronically controlled transmissions are an enabler of additional benefits: These transmissions are enablers of further improvements in fuel economy, safety, and operational efficiency especially as manufacturers combine highly efficient components into effective powertrain combinations. Integration of the powertrain combined with GPS information and telematics are providing the ability to use smaller engines that run at reduced engine speeds to save fuel and improve the operation of cruise control on rolling hills. Forward looking collision warning systems with emergency braking use the features of the automated transmission to control torque to the wheels during emergencies, and automatically shift to maintain a safe distance to vehicles in front. Safety and efficiency gains through platooning technologies will also be available in the next few years.

Given these conclusions, Trucking Efficiency believes that fleets should seriously consider investing in electronically controlled transmission technologies, following the best practices described in Chapter 7.

8.1 Confidence Matrix

A Confidence Matrix (Figure 14) is a diagram used to inform fleets of the Trucking Efficiency Operations’ overall confidence in the technology being studied and the currently available performance data of that technology as compared to the payback a fleet should expect to receive from the technology. In the case of automated manual transmissions, the study team feels the technology is ready for prime time and has a good business case. Therefore, the team believes fleets should seriously consider investing in them, without reservation, and they should be able to see a return on their investment in a

17-Dec-14 43

relatively short period of time. Meanwhile, early indications are that automatic transmissions will also offer significant fuel savings, but their currently higher upfront purchase price, combined with a lack of long-term data on their performance, earns them a lower overall Confidence Rating, as pictured.

Figure 14: Confidence Ratings of Electronically Controlled Transmissions

17-Dec-14 44

Appendix A: Manufacturer Summaries

Allison Company Allison

Web site http://www.allisontransmission.com/home/tc10

Type of Transmission Automatic

Models TC-10

OEM Availability Navistar with Maxxforce 13 engine

Gear Specs 10 forward, 2 reverse

Weight 1,030 lbs.

Warranty 5-years/750,000 miles

http://www.allisontransmission.com/home/tc10

17-Dec-14 45

Daimler Company Daimler

Web site http://www.demanddetroit.com/transmissions/

Type of Transmission Automated Manual

Models DT12

OEM Availability Only with Detroit engines Cascadia models/Western Star models late in 2014

Gear Specs 12 forward, 4 reverse

Weight 518-639 lbs.

Warranty 5-year/750,000 miles on the transmission, and 3-year/350,000 miles on the clutch

http://www.demanddetroit.com/transmissions/

17-Dec-14 46

Eaton Company Eaton

Web site http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/ProductsServices/Vehicle/Transmissions/heavy-duty-automated/index.htm


Models UltraShift Plus, Fuller Advantage Series, SmartAdvantage Powertrain

OEM Availability UltraShift Plus: All OEMs except Mack Fuller Advantage Series: Paccar trucks with MX 13 engines, Navistar trucks with N12 engines, Cummins ISX15 Smart Advantage: Volvo VNL series with Cummins ISX 15

Gear Specs UltraShift Plus: 10 forward, 2 reverse Fuller Advantage Series: 10 forward, 2 reverse

Weight UltraShift Plus: 915 lbs.

Warranty UltraShift Plus: 5-years/750,000 miles Advantage Series: 5-year/750,000 miles and 3-years/350,000 on clutch

http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/ProductsServices/Vehicle/Transmissions/heavy-duty-automated/index.htm

http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/ProductsServices/Vehicle/Transmissions/heavy-duty-automated/index.htm

17-Dec-14 47

Volvo / Mack Company Volvo Trucks North America

Mack Trucks

Web site http://www.volvotrucks.com/trucks/na/en-us/products/powertrain/ishift/pages/ishift_ilf.aspx http://www.macktrucks.com/powertrain-and-suspensions/transmissions/mdrive/


Models I-Shift AT2612D, ATO2612D, ATO3112D (Volvo) mDRIVE (Mack)

OEM Availability I-Shift on D11, D13 and D16 engines on Volvo VNM, VNL, and VHD models mDrive on Mack Pinnacle models with MP7 and MP8 Ecodyne and Maxicruise engines

Gear Specs 12 forward, 2 reverse (I-Shift) 4 reverse gears available in VHD models

Weight 597-611 depending on model

Warranty Transmission For torques less than 1751 lb-ft : 5 years or 750,000 miles or 15,000 hours For torques greater than 1751 lb-ft: 3 years or 500,000 miles or 12,500 hours

Clutch

Normal Duty: 3 years/300,000 miles/7500 hours

Heavy Duty: 3 years/250,000 miles/6250 hours

Severe Duty: 1 year/100,000 miles/3250 hours

http://www.volvotrucks.com/trucks/na/en-us/products/powertrain/ishift/pages/ishift_ilf.aspx

http://www.volvotrucks.com/trucks/na/en-us/products/powertrain/ishift/pages/ishift_ilf.aspx

http://www.macktrucks.com/powertrain-and-suspensions/transmissions/mdrive/

http://www.macktrucks.com/powertrain-and-suspensions/transmissions/mdrive/

17-Dec-14 48

Appendix B: Manufacturer Comparison Sheet

Also available at http://www.truckingefficiency.org/powertrain/automated-manual-transmissions.

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http://www.truckingefficiency.org/powertrain/automated-manual-transmissions

17-Dec-14 49

Appendix C: The Science behind Electronically Controlled Transmissions

In order to understand if an electronically controlled transmission will benefit a particular fleet, it is important to understand the application and the interaction between the engine, transmission and other systems. The more a fleet understands, the better the choice of configuration for the vehicle, including the selection of engine, engine parameters, transmission, transmission gear ratios, axle ratios and more. Basics of Vehicle Physics The basics behind the physics of trucks is the equation: F=mA, where F is the resultant force pushing a mass, m, to accelerate at rate A. The source of F is the engine and its horsepower. Several forces oppose it, such as rolling resistance of the tires, inefficiencies in the powertrain, energy used to power other items on the truck such as the air conditioner, and wind resistance. Figure A is a simplified diagram taken from the 2010 report of the National Academies of Sciences report on Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles.

Figure A: Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

An important way of looking at these losses is to see the effect based on vehicle speed. Figure B was presented to the National Academies of Sciences in March of 2013 by Navistar.

17-Dec-14 50

Figure B: Navistar Presentation to National Research Council 3/29/2013

This shows the large impact of aerodynamics and tire rolling resistance at road speeds for a vehicle on level ground. The plot is focused on indicated power from the fuel consumer, consistent with the SAE definitions in SAE J1939-71 section 5.2.1. It is for a vehicle with a GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) of 64,500 pounds with less than ideal assumptions for rolling resistance and aerodynamics that might be typical of a fleet. However, the exact assumptions are not stated, so this information should not be used to determine exact horsepower or kilowatt numbers, but merely to observe the shape of the curves versus speed, and the relative contribution of each item.

NYSE: NAV

ProStar Energy Analysis

7/18/2014

0

50

100

150

200

250

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Power(kW)

Speed(mph)

ProStar+EnergyAnalysis

TotalPower(kW)

EngineMechincalLosses*

SteeringPump

FanDriveLosses

BrakeCompressor

AirCondi oning

Alternator

TransmissionLosses

Drivesha losses

FinalDriveLosses

RollingResistance

Aero

17-Dec-14 51

An important impact is the effect of grade, as shown Figure C, which was generated by Cummins using simplified equations and known assumptions.

Figure C: Grade

Source: Cummins Inc.

The simplified calculations for wheel power in this graph are: Aero Power (HP) = (Height - 0.75) * Width * Cd * (MPH)^3 / 156000

(Note: the 0.75 height deduction is for ground clearance) Rolling Power (HP) = Weight * Crr * MPH / 375000

(This assumes Crr includes pavement factor) Grade Power (HP) = Weight * Grade * MPH / 37500

(Grade expressed as a percentage) The vehicle assumptions are:

Total weight: 70500 lbs. (current EPA greenhouse gas emissions model (GEM))

Frontal area: 13.5 ft. X 8.5 ft. (Great Dane standard dry freight trailer)

Coefficient of Drag (Cd): 0.54 (Estimate of "typical" aerodynamic tractor-trailer combination)

Tire Resistance (Crr): 0.00626 (Weighted average of EPA Smartway drive, steer and trailer tires using EPA GEM weight

distribution) With the above suggested inputs, and at 65 MPH on level ground (understanding that at 65 MPH every 1% increase in grade adds 122HP at the wheels) these equations give results of:

17-Dec-14 52

Aero Power = 76 HP Rolling Power = 103 HP Total Wheel Power = 179 HP Finally Figure D, taken from a Cummins Inc. presentation to a National Academy of Sciences committee reviewing the 21st Century Truck Partnership, shows the variation in grade along a typical highway in the USA. Even in what would be expected to be a flat area of the country, Texas, there is significant road grade variation of +/- 2%.

Figure D: Grade on a Route

17-Dec-14 53

Basics of Engine Physics The ideal engine would produce the required torque at the wheels under all conditions of load and speed with constant fuel use. That engine does not exist. Unfortunately, engines are only capable of producing useful torque at a range of speeds from about 600 rpm at idle to 2000 rpm at governed speed. The ability to produce torque is not constant. It is typically low at idle speed, rises to a peak value, then decays by a significant amount as the engine reaches its maximum or rated speed. Finally, the fuel used by the engine is not constant, but varies with engine speed, engine torque and load. Three key performance curves are used to picture the capabilities of an engine:

1: Torque versus engine speed;

2: Horsepower versus engine speed;

3: Brake Specific Fuel Consumption versus engine speed and load. Figure E shows two of the performance curves for a current Detroit DD13 engine taken from a specification sheet. The engine produces 410 brake horsepower (bhp) when running at 1800 rpm. It produces a maximum torque of 1450 lb-ft when the engine is at 1100 rpm. [Figure E shows the peak torque of 1450 lb-ft at about 1225 rpm, yet, the specification sheet shows it occurs at 1100 rpm, see Figure F]. As shown in Figure E, the torque capability of the engine is relatively constant from 1000 rpm to 1400 rpm. A dot is also shown on the torque curve at the rated engine speed of 1800 rpm. This torque value is less than the peak torque. The torque rise of an engine in percent is also a measure of engine performance. It gives an indication of the ability of the engine to provide a constant torque versus speed. In this case the torque rise in percent is (100 x (1450-1196)/1196)=21%.

Torque Rise in % = (Peak Torque – Torque at Rated Speed) x 100 Torque at Rated Speed

Figure E: Current DD13 engine performance curves Figure F: Detroit DD13 Power Ratings Figure G shows the classic horsepower and torque curves, the equations relating the two, and a simple description of the difference when applied to the real world of trucking.

17-Dec-14 54

Figure G: Defining Horsepower and Torque

Torque becomes important in at least two situations: starting on a grade and holding a grade Torque is the major factor in determining the startability of the vehicle with a load and on a grade. One recommendation is that a line haul vehicle should have a startability index of 6 (i.e. be able to start on a 6% grade). (Figure H)

Figure H: Startability

Holding a grade is a race between the horsepower curve and the torque curve. While horsepower may seem to be the overriding consideration, as the vehicle loses speed on a hill, the torque of the engine reaches a point where the vehicle may begin to shudder or buck. Drivers learn quickly to shift before the engine starts lugging and creating this uncomfortable situation. In the past, engine torque and horsepower required a driver to shift at 1150 RPM. Today’s engines can often pull the load without lugging down to 900 RPM. Drivers who learned on the older engines, may not understand this and end up wasting fuel. Figures I to L are an attempt to describe holding a grade at various points on the horsepower and torque curves. Note that net horsepower accounts for the effects of aerodynamics, rolling resistance, accessory loads and driveline efficiencies.

17-Dec-14 55

Figure I: More torque curve detail

Figure J: Holding a grade at cruise speed

Figure K: Holding a grade at peak torque

17-Dec-14 56

Figure L: Holding a grade at peak torque continued

The third performance curve for an engine is the fuel map which gives important information on the brake specific fuel consumption of the engine. This data is highly confidential and not readily available. [Transmission manufacturerrs and engine manufacturerrs are sharing this information confidentially to improve the integration of the automated transmission and the engine. Some vehicle OEMs with their own engine and transmission, do not provide the information on their proprietary engines to outside transmission manufacturerrs.] Significant changes in the details of this performance curve have occurred over the last 20 years as emissions, particulates and fuel economy regulations have forced changes, including the addition of after-treatment systems. For Figures M through P, note the different levels of detail and the significant differences in presentation. The one commonality is that the X-Axis is engine speed. In M and P the Y-Axis is brake horsepower, in N it is brake torque, in O it is percent load. This makes it difficult for people outside the engine manufacturerr to make use of information even if they manage to obtain it.

Figure M: Brake-specific fuel consumption for a 1994 vintage Detroit Diesel 12.7 liter Series 60.

SOURCE: Based on Merrion, 1994, modified by the committee. Reprinted with permission from SAE paper 940130. Copyright 1994 by SAE International. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12258&page=36

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12258&page=36

17-Dec-14 57

Figure N: Diagram from the SuperTruck program for Daimler.

Figure O: Diagram Volvo ICCT 6 14 SuperTruck Program report

Wider, flatter torque curve

Higher Percent Load with

Smaller Engine

Down Speeding and Down Sizing

17-Dec-14 58

Figure P: Allison NTEA 2014 Presentation Generic Engine of Unknown Vintage

At full load, putting the “pedal to the metal” when starting a heavy vehicle, the engine likely achieves the highest power output per unit of fuel (lowest BSFC), but still burns a lot of fuel—more than you need to accelerate the vehicle. Better to use a light foot on the throttle to accelerate to road speed. Once the vehicle stops accelerating and is up to speed, then the power demand is reduced and the engine operates at partial load. Assuming a vehicle speed of 65 (and other parameters of load and gearing), the vehicle may only need about 200 horsepower to maintain a constant speed. If you press the throttle pedal to accelerate, the engine moves to a different fuel line and your fuel consumption will increase. Similarly, if you start to climb a modest grade in the road, the load is increased and the vehicle will begin to slow down. This will move the engine along the line of constant fuel and, at lower RPM, will reach a point of where there is insufficient torque and a shift to a lower gear to speed the engine up is required. Figure is similar to Figure O “Islands” of preferred operation become more visible. Note that the lines of constant fuel are flatter.

Figure Q: SuperTruck Presentation by Volvo

Island of Best Operation

Flatter Curves of Constant Fuel

Increasing Fuel at Low RPMs Shown

17-Dec-14 59

Point 1 on this curve shows where the engine/vehicle combination may have been designed to operate when cruising down the road at 65 miles per hour. Due to improvements in aerodynamics, rolling resistance and other items, that same engine may operate at point 2, which actually has higher fuel consumption than point 1. Without changing other things, if you reduce the engine speed, you will improve the fuel consumption of the vehicle. If you take another step, and choose a smaller engine that will operate nearer to its full load capability, you can further improve the fuel consumption of the engine/vehicle combination. This is why you hear so much discussion of down speeding and downsizing the engine. Where it was customary 10 years ago to operate an engine at 1500 rpm going down the road, today you are more likely to operate at 1100-1200 rpm. Some portion of the market is choosing to use a 13-liter engine with similar horsepower and torque ratings, rather than a 15 liter engine. The design of an engine to achieve legally mandated emissions and fuel economy requirements is complicated and it is not easy to understand. Getting maximum benefit from the electronically controlled engine demands an electronically controlled transmission. Transmission Basics Since the engine cannot turn fast enough to take a vehicle from stop to 65 miles per hour or greater, the rest of the powertrain (transmission, axle, tires) has to convert the limited speed/torque range of the engine to something more useful at the wheels. Figure R shows a shift chart for the Volvo I-Shift taken from a brochure published in 2010. On the left, first gear is shown starting at engine idle of about 600 rpm and could go as high as governed engine speed of 2100 rpm. The lower curve shows the minimum engine speed for a shift to the next gear, while the upper curve shows the maximum engine speed for a shift. The vertical lines show how much the engine speed will decrease when you shift from a lower gear to a higher gear.

Figure R: Volvo I-Shift 2010 Brochure Shift Chart

First Gear

Engine Speed Drop

Minimum Engine Speed for Shift

Maximum Engine Speed for Shift

17-Dec-14 60

Figure S: Volvo I-Shift 2010 Brochure Shift Chart

Figure S shows the same chart, but with the preferred engine speed for fuel consumption overlaid onto the chart. To minimize fuel usage, the goal is to keep the engine within this range of speeds. It wastes fuel to take an engine to its rated or governed speed. Electronically controlled engines have many programmable parameters to help the driver achieve better fuel economy. One set of parameters deals with progressive shifting. When properly set, the driver is encouraged to make shifts closer to the minimum engine speed, rather than the higher engine speed. Note that, at lower vehicle speeds, the shifting can occur at lower engine speeds. Once the vehicle is above about 10 miles per hour, the engine speed for shifting needs to increase. Progressive shifting features encourage the driver to shift earlier in the lowest gears and to shift at progressively faster engine speed as the vehicle speed increases. At 50 miles per hour, the driver could select different gears to achieve that speed. He could be in top gear with an engine speed of about 1200 rpm, or could be down one gear and running at 1500 rpm. He could also be two gears down and screaming the engine at 1900 rpm. Naturally, fuel is wasted if the wrong gear is chosen. An automated transmission takes this decision away from the driver and always selects the proper gear for the conditions. An important part of a good shift is to be able to maintain forward momentum after the shift. Therefore, the shift needs to occur such that the engine can still provide the torque and horsepower needed for the vehicle after the shift. On level ground, with the momentum of the vehicle, this is not difficult. But, on a hill with a heavy load, it is much more difficult. Done poorly, the transmission “hunts” doing multiple upshifts and downshifts.

Maximum Engine Speed for Fuel

Minimum Engine Speed for Fuel

Multiple Gears for Same Vehicle Speed

17-Dec-14 61

Figure T: Powertrain Components

Source Allison Figure T is taken from a public presentation by Cummins to the National Academies of Science in 2013. In addition to moving the vehicle, the engine has much to do to provide cooling for itself, cooling for the driver, air for the brakes, power for steering and electric energy for many items. We will focus only on the transmission in relation to the engine and the wheels. The formula for vehicle speed is quite simple.

Vehicle Speed (Miles/Hour) = Engine Speed (Revs/Min) x 60 Min/Hour Tire Revs/Mile x Transmission Ratio x Axle Ratio

Engine speed may be about 2350 rpm at highway speeds, tire revs are about 500 per mile, preferred top gear in the transmission is usually direct for efficiency (ratio of 1), and axle ratios range from a low of 2.26 to well over 3. A common number is 2.42. That would give an equation of:

Cruising vehicle speed of 62 mph = 1250x60/(500x1x2.42) To get to that speed, the driver or the vehicle will go through as many as 18 gears or as few as six gears. The more gears the smaller the change in engine speed. Less change in engine speed tends to lead to better fuel consumption, but can tax the driver’s physical abilities. Thus, automated transmissions are, literally, ideal for accomplishing the efficient shifting of a vehicle to keep the engine where it runs best. The transmission’s job is to keep the engine operating where it is most efficient and burns the least amount of fuel. Figure U is a very simplified version of looking at the work of a vehicle and its transmission. There is some amount of time where the vehicle is stopped. The more you can minimize the engine running and burning fuel when it is not needed to move the vehicle, the better. Idle times

Powertrain Fuel Usage Effectors

7 21 November 2013

Alternator

Hydraulic Pump

Transmission

PTO HydraulicAccessories

Power

Steering

Air

Compressor

A/C

Engine Axle

SCR Catalyst Particulate Filter

Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)

EngineEfficiencyEngineControlsAirSystemExhaustA ertreatment

TransmissionEfficiencyTransmissionControls

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AutoNeutralsEngineStop/Start

AxleEffic

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encyFinalDrive

AxleRa oTireSize

EngineAccessoryLoads

TransmissionAccessoryLoads

Inputs:DutyCycle/GradeDriverBehavior/Model

17-Dec-14 62

as high as 50% used to be common. Today, however, best in class fleets are reporting less than 10% of time idling. Next, there is some amount of time spent accelerating the vehicle. A significant portion of the time is spent at speed, sort of “cruising along.” Whenever possible, this should be done with engine cruise control feature turned on. Finally, there is some amount of time spent decelerating and braking the vehicle.

Figure U:. Zones of Fuel Usage

Figure V: Fuel Zones by application Figure V is a simplified look at different applications or routes and how much time is typically spent in each zone. Allison looked at the duty cycles of 260 customers to be able to graph this data. Line haul trucks spend a good portion of their time in the region where cruise control should be enabled. Yet, they still have to accelerate and brake. This is shown in the left-most bar graph for line haul applications. At the other end of the spectrum, the right-most bar graph, is a low speed, vocational application. Here the vehicle is stopped a great deal of time, does more accelerating and decelerating in traffic and spends much less time where cruise is useful. The transmission can help improve fuel consumption in all four zones:

Stopped Eliminate gears turning, efficient use of Power Take Off

Fuel Zones

8

Ou

tpu

t S

peed

Time

Stopped

Accel

Cruise

Decel

21 November 2013

Fuelusagecanbecharacterizedbyopera oninfourprinciplezones• Timeineachfuelzonevariessignificantlybyvoca onanddutycycle• Toolstominimizefuelusagewillvarybyfuelzone

Duty Cycle Analysis Overview

9

• 260 Customer Duty Cycles from North America were analyzed with Allison’s

DATALOG Analysis tool

– Average cycle time: 7.6 hours

• Numerous vocations

– Airport Refueler; Bus (Transit, Commuter, Shuttle, Tour Coach, School); City Delivery

(Armored Car, Beverage, Van, Walk-In Van); Construction (Concrete Mixer, Dump, Snow

Plow, Equipment Hauler); Farm; Straddle Carrier; Line Haul; Log Hauler; Oil Field (Draw

Works, Pumping); Refuse (Landfill, No Landfill, Recycling, Transfer); Utility (Municipal

Maintenance, Public Utility, Street Sweeper); Wrecker; Dock Spotter

• EPA Phase 1 GHG duty cycles also analyzed with Allison’s Datalog Analysis tool

• Parameters evaluated for this review:

Parameter KeyUsage

AverageCruiseSpeedGivesanindica onoftheimportanceofhighspeedfeatures(e.g.aerodynamics)versuslowspeedfeatures(e.g.rollingresistance)

%Timeinkeyfuelzones Indica onofhowthefuelisusedinapar culardutycycle

Stopped Indica onofidle meandpoten alengineoffbenefit

Accelera ng Indica onof mespentaccelera ngtocruisespeed

Cruise Indica onof mespentatasteadyspeed

Decelera ng Indica onof mespentdecelera ngandpoten altorecoverkine cenergy

21 November 2013

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Line-haul High Speed Low Speed Transit Bus Very Low Speed

Averageof%TimeStopped Averageof%TimeDecel Averageof%TimeCruise

Averageof%TimeAccel AverageofAvgMPHatCruise

Values

Vocation Group

Average of Avg MPH at Cruise Average of % Time Stopped Average of % Time Decel Average of % Time Cruise Average of % Time Accel

No one transmission is ideal for all vocations

21 November 2013 15

17-Dec-14 63

Accelerating Good step sizes, skip shifting, good number of gears, vehicle acceleration

management, driveline torque management, load calculation

Cruise Matched ratio for speed, engine cooperation as road grade changes, coasting

Decelerating Disconnect gear turning when possible, disconnect clutch when nearing stop

The two most significant ways that a transmission helps save fuel is related to time accelerating and the time in cruise. Accelerating: Figure W is the results from a test showing fuel used to achieve a speed of 20 miles per hour. For a 10- or 12-speed transmission, the vehicle will use half or more of the transmission gears getting from stopped to 20 miles per hour. A torque converter for multiplying the torque to the wheels, combined with the ability to keep torque to the wheels during a shift, can reduce the fuel needed during acceleration. As traffic congestion grows, as fleets move to shorter hauls, they may find that more of their time is spent accelerating than in the past. Therefore, they should pay close attention to the capabilities and features for accelerating the vehicle to speed. [Dual clutch transmissions have started to be introduced for trucks (Mitsubishi-FUSO, Volvo, ZF). These will also reduce the amount of time, during shifting, that torque is not delivered to the wheels.]

Figure W: Allison commissioned the Transportation Research Center (TRC), an independent, third-part test facility in East Liberty, Ohio to do fuel

consumption testing. An Allison 2200 HS was compared to a comparably equipped truck with an automated mechanical 10 speed transmission. Both trucks were tested in a variety of real-world conditions.

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Cruise: Calling this region cruise may be misleading. It is really when the vehicle is at road speed and in or near the top gear of the transmission. Operation of the vehicle is not constant. There is a continuing change in wind conditions, in pavement, in traffic and in road grade. Optimally adapting to this can save a significant amount of fuel. Features, such as predictive cruise control for Detroit and I-See for Volvo, allow the transmission/engine combination to anticipate rolling hills to optimally control the fuel to the engine, the chosen gear, and even minimize losses in the transmission when descending small grades of less than 3% [Volvo EcoRoll and Detroit eCoast]. For years, fleets have known that they could save fuel if the drivers would only use cruise control more often. The following information from Cummins Inc. is a good example. Figure X shows a vehicle geared to keep the engine at 1400 RPM at a cruise speed of 65 miles per hour. The blue curves show the gear shift chart. Note that the vehicle is capable of ascending a 1.5% grade at cruise in top gear.

Figure X: Shifts If, however, the vehicle is geared to keep the engine at 1170 RPM, then the shift chart is slightly different. Most notably, the vehicle can only ascend a 1% grade in cruise and top gear. Ascending the 1.5% grade will require a down shift. Figure Y.

Figure Y: Shifts

1.5% in top gear

1.0% in top gear

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Cummins analyzed a tractor-trailer with both sets of gearing. (Figure Z) The route involves going for about six hours at road speed along Interstates I-64 and I-65 in Southern Indiana. While there is almost no difference in the time to complete the trip, there is predicted fuel savings that should be measurable. However, there is a huge difference in the number of shifts needed, arguably more than any driver would accomplish reliably. Whereas transmission designers used to use an average of one shift every four miles for a transmission at highway speeds, this analysis shows a doubling of shift frequency from one shift every three miles to more than two shifts every three miles.

Figure Z: Increased Shifting

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Ideal Transmission

Gradeability at start to move a vehicle on a 20% to25% grade in 1st gear

Startability Index (Si) greater than 25

Gradeability at engine rated cruise speed of 0.5 to 1%

Gradeability at engine rated peak torque of 1 to 1.5%

High efficiency from input shaft to output shaft in all gears

Minimal time to shift between gears

Sufficient steps and sizes to keep engine operating in optimal range

Good controllability at low speeds, especially in reverse

Low cost

Low weight including fluids

No special fluids

High reliability

High durability

Sized to fit into vehicle

Options for power take off operation

High resale value

Good shift quality

Good noise, vibration and handling characteristics

Serviceable

Provide performance and service information to a fleet remotely

Control torque to protect the engine and driveline

Able to handle torque oscillations at output, including negative torque when vehicle is pushing

the transmission/engine

No external cooling requirements

No hunting for a gear on a grade

No lurching at start in forward or reverse, smooth starting

Skip shifts as it makes sense

Maintain high engine speed when decelerating to maximize engine retardation

Tools for engine/transmission/axle specifications

Allison iSCAAN

Cummins PowerSpec and Vehicle Mission Simulation (VMS)

Detroit SpecManager

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