Navistar said Tuesday its International ProStar linehaul and regional haul tractors are now available with the company’s MaxxForce 13 diesel and the Eaton Fuller Advantage Automated 10-speed transmission.

The new powertrain can deliver up to 5% better fuel economy than a 2011 ProStar with a similar engine and a 10-speed manual transmission, the company claimed.

“The increased availability of automated transmissions helps us address the driver shortage issue by reducing the variance between experienced and inexperienced drivers,” said Bill Kozek, Navistar’s president of North America truck and parts.

“Every percent of fuel economy improvement makes a difference, and pairing the aerodynamics of our ProStar with technologies from Eaton Fuller helps our customers maximize their fuel savings.”

Additional benefits of the ProStar with the 13-liter engine and Eaton Fuller transmission include optimized engine and transmission communications, intelligent shifting, and downspeeding, which has the engine cruising at lower rpm's where it uses less fuel without sacrificing performance, he said. 

“The benefits of automated transmissions have driven considerable acceptance in the industry,” Kozek added. “Automated transmissions now make up 30% of the market in North America with the trend continuing upward.”

As part of the engine and transmission combination, the Eaton Fuller Advantage Series Automated transmission will be offered in one rating that combining Navistar’s 13-liter engine rated at 450 horsepower and 1550/1750 pound-feet of torque for linehaul and regional haul applications in the United States and Canada.

The company’s line of fully automatic and automated manual transmissions also includes the Eaton Cummins Smart Advantage, with an ISX15 diesel, and Eaton UltraShiftPlus and Allison TC10 transmissions.