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The Endurant automated transmissions and other Eaton Cummins AMTs were designed for superior reliability, performance, and efficiency. This driver video will get you started on the road in your Peterbilt or Kenworth truck.
In this video, our experts share some common errors that some drivers make on Endurant transmissions and other Eaton Cummins automated products.
What are some common things new drivers of automated transmissions or new drivers of commercial vehicles in general want to avoid?
One thing new drivers tend to do is mash the throttle pedal. It is important to remember that you should drive this truck just like it's your personal car. You do not get in your passenger car and put your foot pedal to the metal, instead you ease onto the throttle. That's exactly what you want to do with the truck.
If you mash on the throttle, you will see your truck make high RPM shift points because the shifts are controlled by the throttle position. The transmission will be very aggressive as it's making those shifts.
Instead, the way you should launch the vehicle is to slowly let off the brake pedal. You will feel Urge to Move start moving the truck forward. Then, ease onto the throttle and slowly start going through your gears and you can slowly launch the vehicle. Once you have the vehicle moving, the best spot for the truck to be moving is about 75% throttle.
What does it mean to “two-foot” the truck? Is doing this bad for the vehicle?
The expression “two-footing” means the driver is using both the brake pedal and the throttle at the same time. The reason this is bad is that it sends conflicting messages to the transmission. When the transmission sees brake input, it means it needs to open the clutch. When it sees throttle, it means it needs to close the clutch. When you are applying both feet at the same time, you're confusing the transmission and you're going to see harsh or jerky launches and it will affect driveability.
What I'll do now is I'll demonstrate what a two footed launch looks like. As you're “two-footing” and you start applying the throttle, you can feel the driveline start to bind up. This is very hard on the transmission, the driveline and all the drivetrain components. If you were to try and do this, you're going to have very harsh launches, as well as backing situations.
The proper way to do this will be utilize the transmission's Urge to Move functionality to simply let off the brake and allow the vehicle to start moving forward. The same methodology will be true in reverse. All you want to do is slowly let out on the brake pedal and allow the Urge to Move functionality to start backing up the vehicle. You can modulate the brake pedal to engage and disengage the clutch. This will allow you to back that final three feet up without having the jerkiness and harsh launches in reverse.
What should you do when you see a message saying, “trans air low - allow air to charge”?
This message tells the driver that the air pressure is too low for the transmission to engage the clutch or engage a different gear. For the transmission to engage the fluid, it needs to see at least 90 PSI before you can put it into Drive.
If you get in the truck and try to put the transmission into drive without letting your air system charge, you'll get this warning message the truck will not allow you to put it into Drive. You'll be forced to wait until your air system has come up to at least 100 PSI before it is allowed to go successfully into gear.
One of the things I would recommend when you go to see this message is before you shut the truck off, allow your air system to charge up to at least 115 to 120 PSI before powering down. When you get back in your truck, after unloading or loading your trailer, you can get in the truck and put it in Drive and get on to your next destination.
Download our handy checklist of driver training videos to ensure your drivers are prepared to get the most out of your Endurant HD and Endurant XD series automated transmissions.
