Why Do We Keep Adding Gears to Trucks

Why Do We Keep Adding Gears to Trucks

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Over the past 80 years, truck manufacturers have consistently increased the number of gears in trucks. In the 1940s, trucks usually had between 3 and 5 gears, whereas modern trucks can now have up to 18 gears

But why add all the gears, and what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Today, we're diving into the details to uncover what types of gears trucks are currently using and whether we'll keep adding gears in the future. Stick around till the end to find out!

But before we do that, let's rewind and explore the early days of trucks and their transmissions

--The Video------
00:00 start
00:36 The Histroy of Truck Transmissions
03:19 Todays truck transmissions
04:15 5 Reaons Manufactureres keep adding gears
05:48 The Future of Truck Transmissions
06:14 The Rise of Electric trucks and no Transmission
06:40 The Conclusion

▬▬▬ End ▬▬▬
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[johnmoore]

People don’t realize that Spicer had 14/16/18, & 20 speed transmissions since the 60’s. The 18 speed that we know today didn’t evolve when Eaton /Fuller introduced it in the early 90’s. Trucking had always had those transmissions available. But the popular trannies with low hp hauling general freight only need a 7/8/9, or 10speed to do the job.

[michaelbujaki]

I prefer the manual transmission. It is North America's #1 most effective theft deterrent.

[charlesbutterfield]

The 18 speed that I had, gave me a200 rpm gear step. That permits you to keep the engine in the peak power range. That is very helpful when you are carrying a full load in the mountains. That was particularly helpful to me on Interstate 70 going into Denver, Colorado. You climb up to 10, 500 feet, then back down and up to over 11, 000 feet. When climbing these mountains with a full load, it is very helpful to be able to keep the engine in the peak power range.

[kentr]

There is one other factor - and that is that far more freight is moved over a much greater distance now than back in the 50's through 80's, thanks to the development of the US Interstate Highway system (and Canada's own highway system). Prior to the 70's, a lot of freight was moved by train to a distribution warehouse where the trucks took it to the retailer. The distance the truck traveled was a lot shorter and the load was a lot lighter so a 5 speed transmission was more than enough. Now, however, trucks drive loads thousands of miles cross country, and they need as many gears as they can get in order to climb hills safely and keep the engine turning at the optimum RPM for performance and fuel economy.

[donmunro]

I'm old school. My Peterbilt is an 18 spd manual. I don't use them all unless I am loaded heavy and in the mountains. I've tried automatics, don't like them.

[nicovandyk]

Geez, “cab over design disappeared”: You know there is an entire world outside of the USA? Cab-over is almost the exclusive design used outside of the USA.

[cameronturner]

Drivers don't prefer automatics and they do not reduce fatigue. Companies prefer automatics because they reduce fuel consumption.

[Freesavh]

Oh man at 2:27 with the driver & his boy in the car seat brings back so many good memories. My son grew up just like that. Starting in my 379 otr then my Pete 330 dump truck. And finally to my FLD 120 EX condo. I think he enjoyed the dump truck the most. He got to see & ride in all kinds of equipment. And what little boy wouldn't love that?

[stevemino]

They keep adding gears because the EPA and the government keeps adding restrictions to emission laws

[hughjass]

Same thing with cars. In the 40s, a typical standard transmission had 3 speeds. A typical automatic; the few that there were, had 2 speeds.

Today, it's rare to see a standard with fewer than 6 gears while an automatic can have 8 or more.

[Bulvan]

I installed an 18 speed in my Honda Civic. The fuel efficiency is unbelievable.

[charlesbutterfield]

The big carriers want trucks with automatic transmissions because that makes it easier to train new drivers. I was an owner operator who was training new drivers. The company that I was under contract to told me that I would have to get a truck with an automatic transmission if I wanted to continue to train new drivers.

[Joshua-ogb]

Trucks back as long ago as the twenties also had auxiliary transmissions along with the main transmission.. so you could have a main box with 5 gears and a second box with 3 or 4 both with separate shift levers and you also had 2 speed rear ends so you could in fact have had as many as 40 different gear ratios or more if the truck was equipped with the aforementioned set-up, which was not unheard of or even uncommon.

[rajlovinglife]

nicely presented from initial trucking days to modern day truck gearing transmission work....👍

[chuckg]

Those 3 & 5 speeds you refer to of the 1950s and 1960s were not 3 & 5 speeds. They were known as a Duplex -- having the main gearbox of 4-6 gears with an auxiliary gear box of three or four gears, the auxillary being shifted through its gears in each gear of the main in turn.
Obviously you had a lot more than 3 or 5.
Revisit: There was also a Triplex, giving a high or low range to the main box.

[dfaulted]

I think something that gets overlooked on the older trucks is that they weren't expected to reach the top speeds we have today. If your expected top speed is only going to be lets say 50mph. You can get away with less gears than a truck that needs to go 75mph, to keep in an optimal engine RPM range.

[Detah_]

My only question is why are the manual gearbox's still unsynchronized. We have had the tech of syncromesh for almost a century now.

[markthomas]

The old 290 Cummins attached to a nine speed was not the desired combination for I-80 eastbound out of Sacramento. But the 425 and 13 was a delite back in the day.

[franzjaegers]

The last agricultural Traktors from Fendt with manual transmision had 44 gears. 6 Speed transmision, two ranges and 4 power schift gears combined. Some combinations where blocked or they would have had 48 gears. Ranging from 650 ft/s up to 31mph. But those transmisions where quite a bit bigger then those of Trucks. Now the completly changed to their own Vario transmission.

[patriot]

I "grew up" in trucking with 13, 10, and one 5x5 transmission. This allowed for a smaller difference between max torque and max horsepower, meaning keeping the engine in a range it was most efficient in. The people doing this video missed that part of it AMT transmissions are very sensitive to battery voltage. A reduction in voltage from the desired 13.8 to 14.5 will cause drivability problems, just as bad as a shift system getting extreme voltage, typically over 15, with actual component damage possible if the sensitive parts have a voltage over 18VDC . I have driven AMT transmissions and have asked shops to check the output voltage and the battery condition when drivability was suspect.