Volvo I-Torque Powertrain Wins Jim Winsor Technical Achievement Award – Gear

An “clever” heavy-truck powertrain from Volvo Vans has gained the Technical Achievement Award from North American Truck Writers, a committee of transportation and logistics reporters and editors. The annual award spotlights at the moment obtainable services or products that present innovation, technical excellence, huge applicability, and actual advantages for business truck operators, the writers group mentioned.

Volvo’s I-Torque Powertrain claims excessive gas economic system by combining a turbo-compounded diesel, a 13-speed automated handbook transmission, a low numerical (“quick”) axle ratio, and cargo sensing software program for cruising at low engine revs. In the meantime, the system’s digital controls use real-time map-based information and GPS positioning to handle velocity and kit shifting whereas ascending and descending grades. It’s obtainable in a number of Volvo truck fashions.

The 2023 award was introduced at an awards luncheon in the course of the Know-how & Upkeep Council’s Annual Assembly and Truck Exposition in Orlando. Accepting was Duane Tegels, product advertising and marketing supervisor for Volvo Powertrain.

“We’re very completely satisfied to obtain this award,” Tegels mentioned. “The engineers labored exhausting on this. And we’re getting good suggestions from the fleets. It’s an incredible fuel-efficiency instrument.”

The I-Torque Powertrain was considered one of 5 finalists chosen from an preliminary listing of 16 merchandise steered by the truck writers group, based on Tom Berg, a freelancer who headed the nine-member judges panel. Nominations, discussions and voting was accomplished by e-mail over a two-week interval in February.

The opposite 4 nominees had been:

• Detroit Assurance 5.0 system. Digital security gadgets that assist the driving force maintain a truck in its lane and beneath management to keep away from and mitigate collisions;
• Grote 4See Good Trailer System. {Hardware} and software program that brings collectively all of the impartial electrical and digital gear into a typical communication stream, with out rising the harness or {hardware} required on a trailer;
• Phillips Join Good 7 nosebox (in three variations). Superior mobile gateways, GPS trackers, and sensor hubs that pinpoint and transmit trailer location, standing, and demanding situations to the cloud; and
• PlusDrive autonomous truck retrofit system. Converts an present trucksinto semi-autonomous operation utilizing lidar, radar and cameras with autonomous driving software program.

“We truck writers have been giving this award yearly since 1991, besides in 2021 when the COVID pandemic interrupted life usually,” Berg mentioned. “We really feel privileged to cowl the trucking trade, and other than our reporting and writing, this can be a strategy to honor the suppliers who constantly enhance the gear that truck operators use.”

Historical past of the Truck Writers’ Technical Achievement Award

In 2016 the Know-how Achievement Award was devoted to James W. Winsor, a revered trucking journalist for 50 years and enthusiastic supporter of the Know-how & Upkeep Council. He handed away in 2015. Since 2019 the award has been sponsored by Susan Fall of LaunchIt Public Relations.

Other than Berg, members of the Truck Writers committee are Jim Park, HDT’s gear editor, and Jack Roberts, HDT’s senior contributing editor, in addition to: John Baxter, freelance technical author, Baxter Techwrite; Jason Cannon, editor, Industrial Provider Journal; Seth Clevenger, managing editor, options, Transport Matters; James Menzies, editor, At this time’s Trucking and Trucknews.com; Jason Morgan, content material director, Fleet Gear; and John G. Smith, vice chairman of editorial, Newcom Media.