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Air Products' SAMT Stratos
Page 16
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• Tanker specialist Air Products is to become the first UK operator to take delivery of a Seddon Atkinson Strato fitted with the Semi-Automated Mechanical Transmission (SAMT) version of Eaton's Twin Splitter gearbox.
The Manchester-based company will be taking two SAMT Stratos, both sleeper cab models fitted with the 242kW (325hp) Cummins LTAA10-325 engiiie.
Eaton will carry out the conversion work turning the normally manually-controlled Twin Splitter box into the SAMT at its Basingstoke service workshop. According to Air Products' fleet maintenance manager Colin MacGregor, the first SAMT Strati) is expected to be on the road some time during August.
MacGregor says that the two SAMT Stratos will be operated from AP's Manchester site running with cryogenic liquid tankers, double shifted, covering up to 170,000km a year. Air Products already has 12 Strato tractors in its fleet, with another 15 in the system, and MacGregor believes the SAMT has the potential to reduce fuel consumption, improve driveline wear and reduce overall driver stress.
Eaton reports that the Air Products Stratos will be treated as evaluation vehicles in order to fine-tune the SAMT software to the Strato driveline. SAMT removes the need for the driver to use the clutch when changing gears, except when starting off or stopping. The Strato's conventional gear lever is replaced by a small selector lever (mounted in a similar position to the SAMT selector on the ERF) and the microprocessor control unit, ensures correct synchronisation of the gears during shifts.
The decision by Air Products to try out SAMT means that Seddon Atkinson is now the fourth truck manufacturer to fit it in the UK after ERF, Foden and MAN.
Industry sources, however, predict that lveco (which uses the Twin Splitter box on a large number of its heavy trucks) will shortly follow suit and an SAMT-equipped Neal truck could make an appear ance at the Frankfurt Show in September.
O Heanor Haulage has retrofitted Eaton Fuller constant mesh transmissions to a total of nine of its Daf and Volvo tractive units. Six of the retrofits have been carried out on Volvo F12 chassis — three of them 6X4s, the others being 4x 2s. Fuller 15-speed splitter RT-14615 units were installed in the 6x4s, while nine-speed R1'-11609 boxes were fitted in the 4X2s. Two 6x4 Daf 3300, and a 4X2 2800 chassis were also fitted with 15 and nine-speed boxes respectively.
Managing director Peter Searson claims that constant mesh boxes have proved capable of withstanding severe driveline torque loadings on heavy haulage work with far fewer problems.