Transport Besner has been waiting for the right time to go all-automated on the transmissions of its 200-truck fleet. “We know that automated transmissions are popular with many drivers, and can offer lower stress levels and therefore higher staff-retention rates,” reasons Michael Tremblay, vice-president of operations at the St.-Nicolas, Que.-based fleet.

But the decision has been hardly automatic, providing lessons in patience and the benefits of close contact with the supplier. Two years ago, the company began working with Eaton Corp., the supplier of the 13-speed manual gearboxes in Besner’s trucks, to test its automated 10-speed AutoShift transmission in a pair of Freightliners powered by 370-horsepower Detroit Diesel Series 60s. “They worked great on many routes,” says Tremblay, “but when we encountered some of those steep grades in Northern Ontario and along the North Shore in Quebec and Labrador, we had a bit of a problem.”

Simply put, the transmissions had trouble tackling inclines of 11% or more when Besner’s vehicles had GVWs in excess of 110,000 pounds. They couldn’t downshift fast enough to keep up with the vehicle’s rapidly decreasing road speed. Several times, the test trucks stalled partway up the hill.

The AutoShift 10-speed easily climbed hills with even modestly lighter loads, or slightly less steep inclines, however. And there’s a solution for even those steeper hills, too-if the driver has been trained to intervene at the appropriate point. The driver must either push the downshift button or move the whole shift lever into “Low” until the appropriate gear is achieved, then select “Hold” until he crests the hill. “The point is,” Tremblay explains, “we want a nice, simple configuration where every driver can just leave the transmission in ‘Drive’ the whole time he’s under way.”

Since Besner replaces about 25% of its tractor fleet each year, the evolution to an all-automated environment would take four years. Part of the appeal of this concept is that it would not involve costly, time-consuming individual training to show the drivers how to override the automation in special situations like max gross/steep grades. With 300 slip-seating drivers, and with 30% to 40% of the Besner fleet traveling those heavy/hilly routes, it’d be a massive headache to match “qualified” drivers to such runs each time. The company wants the operator to be able to just put the transmission into “Drive” and hit the road, no matter what the route or gross weight.

“It’s an electronics problem, not a mechanical problem, and our people and our local Eaton rep have been working hard at it. I know it’s just a question of time, but we’re not quite there just yet,” Tremblay says.

Besner’s director of safety and training, Carl Gaulin, explains some of the initiatives he and Frank Bourbeau, Eaton’s senior territory manager for Quebec, have undertaken to surmount this challenge.

“About eight months ago, we replaced one of the 10-speed automatics with an 18-speed AutoShift, and re-programmed the Series 60 in that tractor up to its maximum horsepower rating of 430,” Gaulin reports. “We saw some improvement, but not enough. We then tried a vehicle with a 400-horsepower Cummins-same problem. We’ve also been adjusting the software for both the engine and the transmission, and that’s where we think the ultimate solution will be found.”

The final solution may yet involve the 10-speed AutoShift unit.

“Engine and transmission software is improving quickly, allowing components to react faster,” Eaton’s Frank Bourbeau suggests. “For example, the engines in this test employed the DDEC-III electronic control unit, not the newer DDEC-IV, and the second generation of AutoShift electronics was just released in the summer. Combine those two factors, do some custom tweaking, and we may well be there.”

Bourbeau is in regular contact with Eaton’s R&D staff, and, while engineers are investigating possible solutions to the needs of Besner and similar operators, he acknowledges that with most U.S.-based operations running at 80,000 pounds GVW, Besner’s problem likely isn’t at the top of the to-do list.

“I’m not going to sell Besner a bunch of transmissions they won’t be able to use on each and every job they run,” he sums up. “I like these kinds of challenges, and have solved others in the past. We’ll work together and develop the proper solution-it’s just a matter of time.”