Eaton UltraShift PLUS Transmissions Helps Improve the Efficiency of Trucks

Under the umbrella of UltraShift PLUS transmissions, Eaton has developed several models that are each tailored for operations in various challenging applications. In regions such as the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries where vehicles face strong challenges from harsh terrains and severe weather conditions, the different models of the UltraShift PLUS family provide high durability and can be applied to a broad spectrum of vehicle applications, including long distance, construction and off-road. 

The UltraShift PLUS family provides the greatest breadth of ratio, torque and vehicle combination weights of any automated manual transmission available providing truck builders with the right transmission for their specific applications.

Using electronic shift actuation and intelligent gear selection to determine the optimal shift points for efficiency and performance, the UltraShift PLUS transmissions create faster and smoother engagements, based on real-time information regarding gradients, weight calculations and driver throttle commands. They are ideally placed to meet the needs of customers running vehicles in extreme conditions, offering a significant advantage in torque and ratio coverage along with unlimited load weight rating.

Further technical benefits of the UltraShift PLUS transmissions include: a Hill Start Assist feature to prevent rolling back on an incline; automatic, manual and low mode selections; significantly improved maneuverability; thru-shaft power take off; and, an oil level monitor to enable easy fluid level checks.

“As commercial vehicle fleets in the BRIC countries expand to meet demand from global supply chains, fleet managers are increasingly seeking intelligent solutions to optimize fleet and hauling efficiency,” explains Staci Kroon, Eaton’s senior vice president Transmissions and Hybrid. “Premium heavy duty solutions are in strong demand in markets where overloading, poor road surfaces and difficult weather conditions often combine to cause significant delays.” 

UltraShift PLUS is already proving highly beneficial in long distance transport in Russia and South Africa with global truck maker Freightliner. UltraShift MXP units are also in active use in Australia, Korea and China, where their reliability for mining and heavy haul applications are invaluable.

“In addition to Eaton’s reputation for reliability, durability and its versatile product portfolio, OEMs are also keen to partner with us due to our ability to offer engineering support on the ground to the end user through our Application and Commercial Engineering (ACE) teams,” notes Mrs. Kroon.

Eaton’s engineering support teams provide assistance to fleets using UltraShift PLUS technology for diverse commercial applications, including linehaul, heavy haul, logging, mining, oil field, and construction, agricultural and off-highway vehicles.

The UltraShift PLUS family of transmissions includes the Vocational Active Shifting (VAS), Vocational High Performance (VHP), Vocational Construction Series (VCS), Vocational Multi Purpose Series (VMS) and Linehaul Active Shifting (LAS) platforms. The Multipurpose Extreme Performance (MXP) platform is available for off-road applications such as: logging, mining, oil field and construction, as well as regional use for city distribution and refuse collection work.