Slow take-up for autos
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• Heavy truck operators are still wary of automatic transmissions.
Last month Leyland Daf surveyed fleet operators of differing sizes and with varying experience of automated systems. Product manager John Beveridge says the widespread use of fully automated boxes is still some way off: "It will come eventually," he says, "but right now hauliers are approaching it with caution.
"Everybody we spoke to was extremely keen on removing the clutch," says Beveridge, "but they were less sure on whether we should take it out altogether or use a system like the Twin Splifter which allows clutchless shifts."
Opinion is also devided on whether to go fully automatic, like the Geartronic, or have an electro-pneumatic shift like the Mercedes EPS."
Volvo's Geartronic, MAN's HS and and Eaton's AMT provide two-pedal control—a revised Nersion of Eaton's SAMT without a clutch pedal is expected to break cover next year. Volvo reports that 20% of FL1Os sold in the UK are being ordered with Geartronic.
Although Leyland Daf offers Twin Splitter as an option in the 85 Series, most Leyland Daf and Daf products are sold with synchro manual boxes. "We'll listen to what operators want before pushing any preferred system," says Beveridge.
So far Daf's only step towards automation has been the use of ZF's electro-pneumatic Easy Shift system on coaches where long mechanical linkages can affect shift quality. In the mid-eighties Leyland Daf carried out trials with the SAMT box on a Daf 2800 tractor but the option was not adopted.