Mesilla Valley Transport will equip its 2015-2016 Class 8 truck purchases with Allison’s TC10 automatic transmission, the carrier announced.

After conducting comparisons of manual, automated-manual and automatic transmissions, Mesilla made the decision to go with the 10-speed Allison transmission. With Mesilla’s latest order, around a third of its 1,200-truck fleet will be equipped with the TC10 by the end of 2016.

Allison is a big player in the medium-duty truck market and the TC10 was designed specifically for the Class 8 metro market in 2013. However, this move may show that over-the-road fleets are looking at the automatic transmission as a viable option as well, according to one market analyst who called the announcement a “meaningful win for Allison.”

“It demonstrates the TC10, perhaps the company’s most viable new market growth opportunity, is having success—especially considering MVT does not fit neatly into Allison’s target “Metro” market,” said Michael Baudendistel of investment advisory firm Stifel in an email to investors.

Mesilla had an eye toward fuel efficiency when it decided to go with the TC10 and saw an improvement of 3.5% compared with the rest of its fleet and saw several trucks achieve double-digit mpg in testing.

"We pride ourselves in making our equipment as fuel efficient as possible," said Royal Jones, co-founder, CEO, president and majority owner of MVT.

International recently expanded its Allison TC10 offering by coupling the transmission with the Cummins ISX15 on the ProStar by the end of the year. It also offers the transmission on ProStar and TranStar trucks powered by the N13 engine.

Mesilla Valley Transportation is a New Mexico-based transportation provider that serves the Southwest. The company specializes in dry freight and has a fleet of over 1,200 trucks and 5,000 trailers.