With the purchase of five Allison-equipped CNG vehicles, Transgourmet is making another step toward becoming the most sustainable company in the German food industry. The food wholesaler has added CNG Iveco Stralis NP trucks (four 18-ton Iveco Stralis NP type AD190S33/FP CNG 4×2 and one 26-ton Iveco Stralis NP type AD260S33Y/FS CNG 6×2), equipped with Allison 3000 Series™ transmissions and a Cursor 8 Euro 6 engine that delivers 243 kW (325 hp). The NGVs are on the route in Ulm and are used in the city and its surrounding area.
Allison Automatics are ideal for natural gas engines that have to endure the heavy start-stop duty cycles of urban distribution vehicles. Allison’s torque converter technology supports the natural gas engine during vehicle start-ability by smoothly multiplying the engine torque and delivering more power to the wheels. Thus, the vehicles provide the best performance and use the fuel most efficiently. With Allison’s Continuous Power Technology™ the vehicles can easily swim with the traffic, because power interrupts are eliminated.
Since last year, Transgourmet has transported its extensive product portfolio to hotels, restaurants, canteens, group catering events and other customers with its new natural gas trucks on topographically demanding routes, with a daily average of around 200 kilometers. According to Iveco, the vehicles cover distances of up to 550 kilometers depending on the tank volume and only have to be refueled once every second day, even though the cooling unit is also powered by the vehicle’s engine.
“Because the commercial vehicle market currently doesn’t offer a comparable economically and environmentally-friendly alternative, we have chosen the natural gas trucks with Allison transmissions,” explained Sven Sauerwein, Head of Logistic Services Transgourmet Central and Eastern Europe. “So far, we only heard good things about this vehicle configuration and we are excited that it meets our high expectations in terms of energy efficiency, environmental protection, noise reduction and driving comfort.”
The helical gears of the Allison transmission help vehicles with natural gas engines to a quieter operation. Noise emissions of the Iveco Stralis NP are about 4 dBA lower than those of a comparable diesel truck. Already a reduction of the noise level by 3 dBA is perceived by the human ear as noise reduction by 50 percent. Thus, these NGVs are ideally suited for the use in the city.
The Iveco natural gas engines achieve fuel savings of up to 15% compared to diesel trucks on the same route. Allison transmissions featuring FuelSense® 2.0, Allison’s latest fuel-saving technology, may achieve even greater fuel savings. FuelSense® 2.0 uses a real-time learning algorithm that automatically adjusts the transmission control to load, speed and topography to find the ideal balance of fuel consumption and performance.
Source: Allison Transmission
