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News


High Customer Expectations Push Transmission Innovations


WRITTEN BY JULIE METEA S


ALLISON STAYS THE COURSE


teady she goes on the transmission landscape, as manufacturers are coming out with improved offer-


ings, and school transportation oper- ators are depending on the brawn to keep fleets running smoothly. Fuel economy continues to be a high priority for school bus operators even as new transmission product options that promise mpg gains are made available for the coming new school year. School bus customers have high expectations in how much trans- mission contributes to fuel savings. In fact, in a STN reader survey conducted last year, 68 percent said they think it’s very important for transmissions to achieve improved fuel economy, and 31 percent said it’s somewhat important. Tat leaves a miniscule who said think the fuel economy of transmission options have little or no impact on their buying decision. For the past decade, the Freemont RE-2 School District in Florence, Colorado has gone with the same Allison transmission for its entire fleet, now a mixture of 30 Interna- tional and Tomas Built Type C buses. Loyalty was won after drivers saw good fuel performance in moun- tain driving and easy maintenance. “We’ve been getting about seven to eight miles a gallon. And we haven’t had any transmission issues,” said Transportation Director Bob Pe- terson, who responded to the survey.


NEW PRODUCT DELIVERY But there’s a new kid in town.


Designed for dependability and longevity, Eaton’s new Procision dual clutch transmis- sion for medium duty buses aims at dependability, easy maintenance and longevity. By Fall, Blue Bird and IC Type C school buses equipped with Procision will be the first to embark on everyday routes. Te company’s first entry into the school bus market, Procision is pro- moted to deliver 8 to 10 percent or greater fuel economy improvement. It also offers a new feature, called Hill Helper, to assist drivers with routes on hilly, difficult terrain. During the Procision product launch, Eaton’s Vehicle Group has hosted driving events and informa- tional sessions at dealerships and school districts. As result, the team has seen orders across the country, especially where there are steep grades. “We’ve put them in buses, and convinced them of the value,” said Alison Tomas, global product strategy manager at Eaton. “In West Virginia, for example, drivers really like the way the bus operated on grades. Tey were happy with better control versus other buses in their fleets.”


Eaton recently changed its preven-


tative maintenance offering, by ex- tending its lubricant change interval to 10 years/150,000 miles from the previous three years/150,000 miles. Tis extension is enabled by the unique new synthetic fluid used in


18 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2016


Celebrating its 100th year, Allison Trans- mission marks a long history of delivering products to the school bus


The new Procision from Eaton that comes out this fall on Blue Bird and IC Bus conventionals promises 8- to 10-percent increases in fuel economy.


industry, now including the 2300 Pupil Transport Series (PTS), 2350 PTS, 2500 PTS, 2550 PTS and 3000 PTS. Customers who have one of these


products (except the 3000 PTS) installed into Tomas Built Buses this year will get a boost in warranty coverage to seven years. “Both Tomas Built Buses and


Allison Transmission have had a rich 100-year history,” said Caley Edg- erly, president and CEO of Tomas Built Buses. “Tis additional cover- age is just another way Tomas Built Buses is making a commitment to the lowest total cost of ownership for our customers.” Allison also developed new


hardware and software features to improve efficiency, ease operations and simplify maintenance, according to Lou Gilbert, director of North America Marketing and Global Brand Development for Allison Transmission. For example, the company de-


veloped FuelSense packages, which are a unique set of software and electronic controls to configure the system for better fuel economy. Over 20,000 new school buses with Allison automatics are pro- duced each year by OEMs, includ- ing Bluebird, Tomas, Freightliner and IC Bus. l


Procision, the highly capable lifetime sump filter and relatively low heat generation associated with dual clutch technology. According to Eaton, this change makes it possible that a school bus fleet may never have to service a Procision transmission depending on their duty cycles.


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