PORTLAND, Ore. — Eaton Corp.’s UltraShift Highway Value transmission now is being offered by Daimler Trucks North America on the company’s 2009 lineup of Freightliner M2-106 and Sterling Acterra medium-duty trucks. The vehicles are available with Cummins engines and GVW ratings up to 33,000 pounds.

“Daimler Trucks North America — which manufactures Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star trucks — has selected the UltraShift HV so that they could offer their customers the fuel-saving features of an automated transmission,” says Dontia M. Warren, NAFTA medium-duty market development and strategy manager for Eaton’s Truck business. “Their familiarity and success with other Roadranger products and the people who represent those products were also contributing factors.”

According to the companies, tests conducted by an independent firm in accordance with SAE J1526 Joint TMC/SAE Fuel Consumption In-Service Test Procedure, Type III, measured the UltraShift HV transmission against a conventional automatic transmission and determined that the UltraShift HV transmission delivered fuel economy savings from six percent to 19 percent, depending on the duty cycle.

Eaton says the UltraShift HV transmission is a fully automated transmission system for Class 6 and 7 vehicles with diesel engines in the 195 to 260 horsepower range. The HV is capable of handling torque capacities up to 660 pounds per foot and loads up to 33,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. The UltraShift HV transmission is suited for pickup-and-delivery, service-utility and recovery applications.