Conversion of the Texas Department of Transportation 6- and 10-Yard Dump Truck Fleet from Standard to Automatic Transmissions.

摘要

Increasingly, and especially over the last decade, U.S. trucking operations are favoring automatic truck transmissions over manual transmissions. Such growth has been the result of the various benefits that are associated with automatic transmissions, including reduced cost, better maintenance, and improved safety. With approximately 2,600 dump trucks in its vehicle fleet, the Texas Department of Transportation could potentially benefit from converting the current manual transmissions of these vehicles to automatic transmissions. Thus, the report (1) identifies, through a life-cycle cost analysis, the financial impact represented by the conversion to, and maintenance of, an automatic dump truck fleet (as against a manual-transmission fleet) and (2) analyzes the operational benefits of an automatic transmission dump truck fleet. The benefits described and discussed were identified from a literature review, from a survey of current practices in other states, and through interviews with selected fleet managers and vehicle operators.