It was once a pipe dream concocted in the office that, since I hold a CDL, we should start a “What Can Mike Drive?” section…

Well, I guess I got a taste of what that section could be like on Monday. Prior to my assembly plant tour of Allison Transmission, the folks there let me experience some of its products firsthand by driving a few medium duty vehicles. The Freightliner Coronado SD dump truck shown here was equipped with a DD15 Detroit Diesel engine (460 hp, 1,850 lb-ft version) and an Allison 4500 RDS (Rugged Duty Series) transmission. Loaded up with rock and grossing 70,000 pounds, I drove the truck up and down a steep, 25 percent grade. Going up was a tad gnarly, yet slow, and coming down was just as slow thanks to the transmission's aggressive braking capability.  

Allison offers a Rugged Duty Series (RDS) version of its transmissions in every series (1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 series). Typical vehicle applications for the Rugged Duty Series include: Dump trucks, equipment haulers, heavy equipment transport, concrete mixers, snow removal vehicles, wreckers, and refuse/waste vehicles.

This was the first time I’d ever sat behind a DD15—they really get after it. Even with 55,000+/- pounds worth of payload it got with it pretty quick. I’m sure the low, 4.70:1 First gear ratio of the Allison probably helped it get off the line, too. Lots of fun.