When they were first introduced, automated transmissions didn’t work quite as well as you might have wanted them to. Early versions of the Eaton Fuller AutoShift, for example, sometimes seemed to upshift too late and downshift too early for our taste. So like some other drivers, when we were testing the early models, we tended to prefer our own gear selections to those chosen by the transmission. But that was then.

Automated transmission software has been modified and the shift logic now seems more attuned to the way a good, fuel-conscious driver would manage his transmission. So it’s probably time you took another serious look at what sorts of automated transmissions are out there. Because if your drivers are onside, these new transmissions can deliver increased fuel economy, decreased wear and tear on your driveline from clutch to axle, and some fleets are using them as new-driver lures.

While there are varying degrees of automation available these days, starting with gearboxes that automate shifts between the top two gears, we’ll limit ourselves here to the two mechanical transmissions that do away with the clutch pedal — though not the clutch.

The Eaton Fuller UltraShift, introduced last year, and the ZF Meritor FreedomLine, which we first saw four years earlier, are both a standard mechanical tranny-and-clutch combination with the addition of electronic controls. They’re fully automated, meaning you can put them in “Drive” and relax if you want (the three-pedal AutoShift, in contrast, makes you use the clutch manually to start and stop).

There’s also the Allison “World” transmission, a full automatic that uses hydraulic pumps, torque converters, gear packs, and electronic controls to transmit power. Power flows continuously, even during shifts. Available for heavy-duty applications, it’s more expensive than the other two and may be better suited to vocational use than they are.

The FreedomLine:

The FreedomLine is available only in a 12-speed version these days, in direct or overdrive models with torque ratings up to 1650 lb ft. It was once offered as a 16-speed as well, but with a 1650-lb-ft torque limit its advantages over the 12-speed were too few to make a market.

Designed by ZF in Europe, it’s a familiar twin-countershaft design with splitter/ range-change box, integrated with the clutch housing which has an air cylinder at the bottom to actuate the release fork. It’s a constant-mesh, non-synchronized gearbox, though there are synchronizers on the range-change and splitter. It was designed from the start for automation, and for both North American and European duty cycles. It uses a “joystick” mounted to the seat, though other mountings are possible.

The overdrive ratio is 0.78:1, with steps between gears mostly at 29 percent. It weighs a mere 550 lb. The dry clutch is a mechanical, single-plate, 17-inch type with an organic facing, which explains the very “soft” start-offs I experienced in a road test a few years back.

Will it hold up? Yes, after millions of miles here and across the pond, ZF Meritor director of sales and marketing Charlie Allen says the Europeans have found that clutch life has actually been extended by two or three times compared with manual gearboxes.

The FreedomLine doesn’t float-shift through the gears the way an experienced driver can. It uses the clutch on each shift. It commands the engine to reach synchronous but doesn’t use the engine brake to help out; instead it retards the spinning of the transmission itself using an inertia brake on the driver-side countershaft.

In a road test, the 16-speed FreedomLine reacted so quickly and accurately to changing road and throttle conditions that it seemed to have a mind of its own. Its response never seemed to be the same, as it skipped gears in one set of circumstances but not in another, even though they were more or less similar. Obviously, it had detected even minor differences in engine loading. Engineering types call this “adaptive” technology, meaning exactly what it says –something that adapts to new situations on the fly.

Allen says, and this is borne out by fleet records we’ve seen, that a FreedomLine can improve fuel economy by a few percentage points — maybe four percent — though first-class drivers might see little change. That’s because they’re probably already shifting intelligently, the way the black box would. For the average driver, or worse, there’s bound to be a gain.

The UltraShift:

The Eaton Fuller AutoShift transmission was a well-proven product when the company took it one step further last year with the UltraShift. Essentially, it’s the same transmission — a 10-speed based on Eaton’s tried-and-true B-ratio mechanical box — but the clutch pedal has disappeared so you can now start and stop in automatic.

The UltraShift is available with four torque capacities from 1,050 to 1,650 lb ft (there’s also a medium-duty six speed version).
The UltraShift still has a clutch — the new ‘”DM AutoClutch” with a 15.5-in, two-plate design and industry-standard ceramic facing material — but there’s no pedal to do the actuating. Instead, it’s a centrifugal clutch (Eaton won’t say much more than that) that’s directed electronically. It’s a simple design, by all accounts, and takes up no more space than an ordinary clutch within the standard bell housing. It incorporates an inertia brake that speeds automated upshifts and serves as a clutch brake. The engine brake still helps with downshifts.

So how does it work? Aside from starting and stopping, exactly the same — using the same shift logic — as the AutoShift. We’ve tried it on a few occasions in various trucks, and we’ve seen it improve as far as the automated shift points are concerned. It doesn’t downshift as early as we’ve seen before, for instance, and Eaton’s Bill Batten, global product planning manager for Roadranger marketing, confirms that there’s been a fair bit of tweaking. Fine by us.

Batten tells us that a 13-speed version of the UltraShift will be introduced late this spring, also with the DM clutch, and it’s specifically targeted for Canada. Eaton engineers have been busy testing in our western mountains, consulting drivers in the process. And gaining respect for their skills. “Western Canadian drivers are some of the best on the planet,” he says, “also some of the choosiest and pickiest when it comes to shift points.”

To start, the 13-speed will be limited to 110,000-lb gross weights and 1,650 lb ft of torque (1,750 in the top two gears), rising to 140,000 lb as experience and feedback prove its abilities. A new clutch is being developed, which will be required for anything beyond 1,750 lb ft. They’re aiming for a rating of 2,050 lb ft, which implies that an 18-speed is coming.

There’s probably no good reason to avoid an automatic these days, aside from the extra cost (a few grand), but you’ll win some of that back in savings. Maybe on fuel, but certainly on driveline wear and tear.

But the upside in reduced tension will be quite real for some, especially new drivers. Charlie Allen says the FreedomLine is increasingly being bought by both very small fleets and husband-and-wife owner-operator teams where the wife is new to trucking. Automating the shift process reduces a big part of the learning curve and may actually help promote wedded bliss.

And if you’re an owner-operator who sometimes puts another driver on your truck, an automated box may give you a little peace of mind.

Both Allen and Bill Batten agree that the North American market hasn’t embraced automated transmissions as quickly as they once predicted. Acceptance continues to grow, but not at a fast rate.

“We’re all a little bit older and a little bit wiser,” says Batten. “North Americans are more conservative than we thought.”

That said, the arrival of automation in a 13-speed transmission — a very traditional Canadian owner-operator spec — might speed things up for automated gearboxes in general. Don’t bet against it.