Ogdens Coaches, based in the central NSW town of Wellington operates a fleet of Iveco buses built on Eurocargo truck chassis that are now using Allison transmissions and designed specifically to handle operations on rough, unsealed gravel roads with lots of steep climbs and descents.
According to Jeff Neill, manager of business services for Ogdens Coaches, the maintenance costs for conventional rear engine buses operating on the gravel road routes were soaring with the constant pounding and dust ingress, while the steep terrain was taking a toll on the drive-line, specifically clutches and gearboxes.
“About eight years ago we started discussions with Iveco because the rear engine buses that we had always used were costing a lot to maintain,” said Neill “Iveco told us that there was potential for building a front engine bus on a truck chassis that would answer many of the issues.”
The result was a 44-seat bus set on a Eurocargo truck chassis and powered by a 5.4 litre turbo diesel engine. These were initially powered through an automated manual transmission A/MTs but have since been replaced by an Allison 3000 series fully automatic transmission. “Since switching to the Allison fully automatics, the performance and economics are better,” said Neill. “The drivers believe they are easier to drive with the automatic working better on the climbs as well as on the descents.”
The automatics easily shift down on the steep climbs and are always in the right gear while the retardation on descents ensures the speed is controlled and the passengers are safe. “Traditionally automatics are not generally used on rural bus operations and there has previously been a preference towards manuals. However, the Allison transmissions in our Iveco front engine buses have worked superbly and are not only better than the manuals but also the automated manuals they replaced,” Neill added.
The other economic advantage is the fuel efficiency of the drive-line in this package with Jeff Neill citing regular fuel usage of around 25 to 28 litres per 100 km, which saves about eight to nine litres per 100km, compared with the bigger conventional bus chassis in the fleet. Jeff Neill said the advantages were immediately apparent in terms of economics and service intervals, with proven durability of the buses over a longer time span—the oldest buses having completed seven years on the job so far.
SOURCE: ALLISON TRANSMISSION
