Eaton, Cummins Expand Powertrain Partnership

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Transport Topics / February 16, 2015

Eaton and Cummins officials said they have continued to upgrade their SmartAdvantage integrated powertrain to boost fuel economy and that sales of the system have been strong.

Ryan Trzybinski, Eaton's development and project planning manager, said SmartAdvantage has nearly 200 customers and that "sales have exceeded our expectations."

While Tryzbinski and Cummins Global Powertrain Director Mike Taylor declined to give specific sales figures, it was "in the thousands," they said at a Feb. 15 kickoff breakfast at the Technology & Maintenance Council's annual meeting.

Taylor announced that Cummins' ISX12 G natural-gas engine would now be available with the Eaton Fuller Advantage automated transmission.

"We're very excited about continued collaboration with more choices in fuel and more choices in AMTs," Taylor said.

Officials reported that Kriska Transportation fleet maintenance manager Marcel Boisvenue said that carriers' fuel economy improved to 9.5 mpg from 6.5 mpg, "just by handing [drivers] the keys to a new truck . . .at 1,000 miles a day, that's a lot of money."

Tryzbinski also said that Eaton's Procision medium-duty transmission, first announced last fall, is on track for a July release.