Industry News

Fire Services Keep Moving With Allison Transmission

In Australia’s busy bushfire seasons, the performance of emergency vehicles can have a considerable impact in saving lives and keeping people safe.

There is an estimated over 10,000 emergency vehicles currently in service across the country, many of which are using Allison transmissions. Their fully automatic transmissions offer greater control of these vehicles, allowing workers to focus as fully as possible on emergency response.

“Approximately 90 per cent of all metro fire fleets and 80 per cent of rural fire fleets are equipped with one of our transmissions,” says Robert Cavagnino, Australian Sales Director at Allison Transmission.

“We’ve been supplying the country’s fire services since the 1970s alongside a range of OEM partners including Isuzu, Hino, Scania, Iveco, Freightliner, Mercedes Benz and Volvo. We cover a range of vehicle types and applications across a variety of settings – from tankers and pumpers through to logistics and rescue vehicles.”

All Allison transmissions come equipped ‘Continuous Power Technology’, which features a hydraulic torque converter that efficiently multiplies peak engine torque whilst also protecting the drivetrain. This results in more power delivered to the wheels compared to other transmission technologies, ensuring optimal drivability in both on-highway and off-road conditions.

A straightforward drive system to enable firefighters to focus on the task at hand.

This particularly helps Metro fleets with quicker acceleration, allowing them to efficiently navigate congested traffic. Some of Scania’s metro trucks use a Split Shaft Power Take Off (PTO), which diverts all the engine power of the vehicle – once it’s at the scene and stationary – to raise ladders and provide power to high volume pumps enabling water to reach up seven or eight stories high.

“Those particular trucks are equipped with Allison 3000 Series or 4000 Series transmissions but, as with all of our OEM partners, we’ve got a range of transmissions to meet the needs of different fire authority requirements,” Robert says.

“We are proud to play a small part in helping emergency services work more efficiently – in both the peak summer bushfire season and year-round.”

For rural services, some Hino 4x4s are equipped with the Allison 3000 Series ‘pump and roll’ feature – using an engine drive PTO option to allow the vehicle to keep moving whilst also powering the water systems.

Country fire services are also often fighting fires on steep angles. Iveco’s Eurocargo E6 now comes with the factory option of the Allison 3000 Series transmission with a PTO and retarder as an ideal 4×4 application for fighting fires in hilly areas because it allows the vehicle to creep slowly without roll back.

 

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Fire Services Keep Moving With Allison Transmission appeared first on Power Torque.

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