The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry · The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry ... The brand new Peterbilt Model 579 ... then selects the optimum torque

The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry

LIVING LEGEND Louis Tolaini took TransX from 1 truck to 1,700.

Advantage:TransXThe Cummins-Eaton SmartAdvantage powertrain as purchased by Winnipeg’s TransX offers fuel and weight saving as well as superior driving experience.

TTTTTThhhhhhheeeeeee CCCCCuuuuummmmmmmmmmiiiiiinnnnnsssss---EEEEEEaaaaattttttooooonnnnnn SSSSSSSmmmmmaaaaarrrrrttttttAAAAAAAdddddddvvvvvaaaaannnnnttttttaaaaaggggggggeeeeeee ppppppppooooowwwwweeeeerrrrrttttttrrrrraaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn aaaaaasssss pppppppuuuuurrrrccccchhhhhhhaaaaassssseeeeedddddddd bbbbbbbyyyyyyyy WWWWWWWWWiiiiiinnnnnnnnnniiiiiipppppppppeeeeeegggggggg’’’’ssss TTTTTTrrrrraaaaannnnnssssXXXXXXX oooooooffffffffffffffeeeeerrrrsssss fffffffuuuuueeeeelllll aaaaaannnnndddddddd wwwwwwweeeeeiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhhhttttt ssssssaaaaavvvvviiiiiinnnnngggggggg aaaaaasssss wwwwwweeeeellllllllllll aaaaaassssss ssssssuuuuuppppppppeeeeeerrrrriiiiiiooooorrrrrr dddddddddrrrrrriiiiiivvvvviiiiiinnnnnggggggg eeeeeexxxxpppppppeeeeeerrrrriiiiiieeeeeennnnncccceeeeee....

Advantage:TransXThe Cummins-Eaton SmartAdvantage powertrain as purchased by Winnipeg’s TransX offers fuel and weight saving as well as superior driving experience.

SHOWROOM FRESH

The brand new Peterbilt Model 579 loaned to us by TransX Ltd. had

less than 60 km on the clock. The SmartAdvantage powertrain makes

it a very nice place to work.

TODAY’S TRUCKING

Advantage: TransX

CUMMINS and EATON may

have finally nailed it with their

SmartAdvantage Powertrain

combo. The closer-than-usual

collaboration between the two engineering

groups has really paid off, leaving precious

little to complain about.

SmartAdvantage brings together

Cummins’ ISX15 and an automated ver-

sion of Fuller’s new Advantage 10-speed

transmission. Together, they make for a

smooth-shifting, low-rpm powertrain set

up for fuel savings and drivability.

I had a full day to get to know this new

combo a little better back in early June. I

visited the Winnipeg terminal of TransX

Ltd. The company had ordered a signifi-

cant number of trucks equipped with the

new SmartAdvantage powertrains, and

graciously delayed putting one of them

into service so I could drive it right off the

showroom floor, literally. I picked up the

Model 579 from Peterbilt of Manitoba on

Brookside Blvd. with less than 60 km on

the clock. TransX has about 1,700 trucks

and about 4,000 trailers running across

Canada and all through the lower 48. The

company sits in the number-three posi-

tion of Today’s Trucking’s Top 100 List of

Canadian carriers.

Company president and owner Louie

Tolaini, a veteran driver who started

trucking in the late 1950s, says he’s quite

impressed with the SmartAdvantage

combo so far.

“It’s the first time I can remember a

manufacturer promising something and

the product performing even better than

they said it would,” he notes. “I haven’t yet

heard a single complaint about this new

engine and transmission.”

Starting from the front, SmartAdvantage

offers Cummins’ ISX15 with SmartTorque2

(ST2) and Vehicle Acceleration Manage–

ment (VAM). The ST2 feature senses

vehicle weight, grade, and operating gear,

then selects the optimum torque for the

best fuel economy and performance in a

given gear.

VAM manages the acceleration rate of

the engine, optimizing fuel consumption

while giving the driver very reasonable

performance.

The SmartAdvantage powertrain uses

an interesting transmission that has a lot

in common with its fully manual cous-

in, called Fuller Advantage. Eaton’s Ryan

Trzybinski, product planning manager

for NAFTA Commercial Vehicle Business

says the Advantage concept for both the

automated and manual versions is based

on a new Precision Lubrication system

that sprays lubricant directly into the gear

mesh rather than relying on the traditional

oil bath to splash lubrication throughout

the case.

“The reduced churning losses with the

precision lube system can improve fuel

economy by 1.5 percent to two percent,”

Trzybinski told Today’s Trucking. “On top

of that, the oil cooler has been eliminated,

saving more weight and up to 12 feet of

tubing. We also changed some non-stress-

bearing parts of the housing from cast

iron to aluminum, saving a total of about

82 pounds.”

Smaller StepsThere are significant differences between

the manual and automated versions of

the Advantage transmission: the final gear

ratio and the step between 9th and 10th

gears. The manual version has a 0.73:1 final

ratio, while the automated version used

in the SmartAdvantage powertrain has a

0.80:1 final drive. Also, the step between

the top two gears is 26 percent rather than

the 37-percent step found in the manual.

The step between the top two notches in

a 13-speed is 17 percent, just to complete

the comparison.

While the intermediate-sized 26-percent

step between 4th and 5th and 9th and 10th

might baffle an inexperienced driver using a

manual shifter; it’s just another gear change

for the computer. The reason for the small-

er step between the gears is fuel savings.

“We wanted a smaller step between the

top two gears to keep the engine speed

within the sweet spot of the engine’s fuel

map as much as possible,” says Trzybinski.

“Drivers will notice that it shifts between

9th and 10th more often than a traditional

overdrive, but it’s designed to do that.”

Adam Whitney, a National Account

executive at Cummins Canada, says

the recommended engine speed for the

SmartAdvantage combo is in the 1,150-

1,240-rpm range at the vehicles, intended

cruise speed.

For TransX, we elected not to go down

into the 1,150-rpm cruise range as these

units would be hauling across Western

Canada with grades and wind to over-

come,” says Whitney. “As the cruise rpm is

Powertrain

Specs Cummins ISX15 450 hp @ 1,800 rpm / 1,550-1,750 lb-ft @ 1000 rpm SmartTorque2

Fuller Advantage 10-speed Automated

1810 HD driveline

Dana DSP41, 40,000-lb axles, 2.93:1 ratio

65 mph max in top gear, 62 mph max cruise speed

GVW as tested: 36,780 kg

REACHABLE MOMENTS: Eaton’s Advantage driver interface is easy to use and the upshift and downshift are in exactly the right place.

a function of not only the rear axle but also

the tire revs and road speed, the axle ratio

selected will differ between customers and

truck specs.”

The truck I drove had a rear-axle ratio

of 2.92:1 rather than something like the

2.64:1 you might find on a truck spec’d to

run on fairly flat U.S. interstate highways

exclusively. I noted engine speeds of about

1,200 rpm in 10th gear at 62 mph, 1,060

rpm in 10th gear at 55 mph, 1,500 rpm in

9th gear at 62 mph and 1,200 rpm in 9th

gear at 50 mph.

Cummins says peak torque in the top

two gears is 1,750 lb-ft at a fuel-sipping

1,000 rpm. Cruising at 1,200 rpm gives the

engine plenty of latitude before downshift-

ing. Cruising on level ground, the ISX15

usually pulled down to 1,050 before down-

shifting at 58 mph.

I wanted to test the engine/transmis-

sion combo’s tolerance for low-rpm oper-

ation in a hill climb, but since there are no

hills anywhere close Winnipeg that would

demand a downshift from 9th to 8th I had

to make do with a railroad overpass.

On the east side of Portage La Prairie

there’s an overpass near the junction

of Hwy 1 and 1A that I estimate has a

two-percent grade. I made several passes

over that at different speeds to simulate a

sustained pull.

The first time around from 62 mph

it downshifted into 9th at about 1,050

rpm at about 58 mph. The next time,

starting into the hill at 50 mph in 9th

gear at 1,200 rpm and it downshifted into

8th at 1,050 rpm.

SmartAdvantage ShinesFrom a full stop up to cruise speed, this

transmission proved to be the smoothest

shifting Eaton automated I’ve ever driven.

I don’t think it ever exceeded 1,300 rpm

under normal, unhurried acceleration. With

my foot right into it, it climbed to 1,400 a

couple of times, but that was the exception.

The truck I drove had an rpm limiter

set to 1,600 rpm, but it only went that high

once. This proved problematic on one

occasion when I was looking for a faster

takeoff, where 1,900 or 2,000 rpm might

have helped. The engine wouldn’t let me

go there. Cummins says the rpm limiter is

a customer-preference setting.

The VAM feature, a huge asset when

it comes to fuel consumption, is hardly

noticeable to the driver. It limits power

output very judiciously, thus eliminating

fast launches. A diligent driver of a loaded

truck would never notice the difference.

A hot dog driver on a lightly loaded truck

might suspect his or her fuel filters were

partially plugged. It takes off a little slower

than might be expected, but it gets up

through the gears quickly enough.

During a spell of city driving, I never

noticed the transmission hunting for a

gear. Every gear choice was the right one

and all the shifts were in exactly the right

engine speed range. When coasting into

a traffic light, for example, it downshifted

low in the rpm range which made for a

nice smooth ride. On occasion, when I was

looking for a little more action from the

engine brake, I’d hit the downshift button

and I had all the revs I wanted. Several

attempts at this allowed the engine to rev

all the way to 1,900 — two taps of the but-

ton in most cases.

I did have to slide the fifth wheel for-

ward, and I found that exercise a little

awkward without a clutch pedal. The

clutch engages as the throttle pedal is

depressed, so modulating the torque to the

drive wheels was a bit tricky.

Trzybinski admits it takes a bit of

getting used to, and said fleets would

be wise to explain to drivers how it should

be done before the need arises.

“It would be very difficult to damage the

clutch doing that because we’ve added the

ability to sense clutch abuse,” he says. “If

it overheats, a ‘clutch abuse’ (CA) warning

light comes on. If the abuse continues, the

transmission will eventually not go into

gear until it cools down. It’s a logged fault

code, so drivers with high incidences of CA

warnings can be coached.”

Eaton’s product literature says the

SmartAdvantage automated transmission

weighs just 850 pounds (dry weight, includ-

ing clutch), making it the lightest auto-

mated manual in their portfolio. It uses

roughly half the lube of its competitors

(based on literature comparisons), and it’s

much tamer than some of Eaton’s past

automated manuals.

Eaton and Cummins claim the Smart-

Advantage powertrain offers fuel savings

of three- to six-percent compared to a

baseline 2013 Cummins ISX15 mated to an

LAS model UltraShift-Plus transmission.

The ISX15 in SmartAdvantage trim is

available in two ratings: 415 hp with 1,450/

1,650 lb-ft, and 450 hp with 1,550/1,750

lb-ft. Both ratings include SmartTorque2 as

well as Vehicle Acceleration Management.

The ISX12 (diesel version) Smart-

Advantage package will come to market in

the third quarter of this year with ratings

of 370 hp with 1,150/1,450, and 425 hp with

1,350/1,650 lb-ft.

A package for higher GVW (110,000 lb)

combinations is in the works.

The Cummins/Eaton SmartAdvantage

powertrain is available from International,

Paccar, Volvo and Freightliner.

— BY JIM PARK

OCTOBER 2014

Advantage: TransX

PUNCHING BELOW ITS WEIGHT: At 450 hp, the big-block ISX isn’t exactly working up a sweat. It’s adequately powered, but the 1,750 lb-ft of torque in the top two gears make it feel a whole lot bigger.

REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF:

SmartAdvantage™ PowertrainIntroducing the

Cummins and Eaton® have joined together to deliver fully integrated powertrains with unprecedented

performance and fuel economy. The SmartAdvantage Powertrain takes the effi ciency of Cummins ISX15 and

ISX12 with SmartTorque2 (ST2), and combines it with the smooth-shifting Eaton Fuller® Advantage™ 10-speed

Automated Transmission, for 3-6% better fuel economy for the ISX15 and 2-4% better fuel economy for the

ISX12. The engine and transmission share critical data, determining the torque required to deliver the power

level that drivers need. Error-free, guessproof shifting makes every driver in your fl eet as effi cient as your

best driver — so you save more money on every haul.

The Smart Way to Get 3-6% Better Fuel Economy.

Learn more at SmartAdvantagePowertrain.com

©2014 Eaton Corporation. All rights reserved. Eaton and Fuller are registered trademarks of Eaton. Cummins and the “C” logo are registered trademarks of Cummins Inc. All trademarks, logos and copyrights are those of their respective owners.