Allison Transmissions has announced that its TC10 transmission will be available from Paccar later this year in the Kenworth T680 and T880, and Peterbilt 567 and 579 truck models.

The fully automatic TC10 combines Allison’s torque converter with a twin countershaft gear scheme. The company said this combination provides both full power shifts and cruising fuel economy for greater productivity and efficiency. The transmission is well-suited for distribution applications in which the tractor-trailer splits its work cycle between city and highway conditions.

"The TC10 combines the startability and continuous, uninterrupted power shifting qualities of a fully automatic transmission with the cruising aspects of a manual transmission," said Heidi Schutte, Allison’s vice president of marketing and sales for the Americas. “Simply put, drivers don’t have to be experts at shifting because the TC10 shifts for them at exactly the right point to maintain vehicle performance and maximize fuel economy, thereby allowing the driver to focus their attention on the road.”

Fleets adopting the TC10 and sharing data with Allison are reporting an average fuel economy improvement of 5% when compared to other transmission technologies. With FuelSense technology, a unique package of software and electronic controls, the TC10 is designed to achieve the best fuel economy in most situations, according to Allison.

The Allison TC10 includes a standard warranty of five years or 750,000 miles, with no exclusions on individual components and no scheduled maintenance for 500,000 miles.

Test Drive: Allison’s TC10 Automatic Transmission