3 Transmissions Open Up Options in Shifting

摘要

If you've been around trucks a while, you probably like a manual transmission. Automatics, on the other hand, are increasingly popular as the industry draws on younger workers with differing skill levels. Then there's a third type: the automated manual transmission, or AMT, which combines the virtues, and drawbacks, of both. Recently I sampled all three within a couple of hours, thanks to the folks at Fyda Freightliner-Western Star at Zanesville, Ohio. Like many dealers, Fyda keeps numerous trucks in stock at its various locations, and this branch's sales manager, Tony Apollonio, reported that he had new Western Star 4700SF dump trucks with both manual and automatic transmissions, as well as a Western Star 5700XE highway tractor with an automated gearbox. All had Detroit engines-DDI3s in the dumpers and a DD15 in the tractor. The dealership sits between Interstate 70 and paralleling U.S. 40, which allowed a brief but revealing test route: west on 40, the old main east-west road with uphill and downhill stretches that require some gear changes, then back via 1-70 for higher speed running in top gear.