BEIJING – To improve its efficiency on urban roads, the Environmental Sanitation Mechanization Institute of Gusu district, Suzhou, began using a sprinkler truck equipped with a fully automatic Allison transmission earlier this year.
With more than 140 sanitation vehicles, the institute is responsible for nearly 90 % of the 88 sq km of the Gusu district’s road surfaces. The fleet’s 32 sprinkler trucks are operated 26 days a month on the road, with their tasks rotating from spraying to watering or sprinkling on a monthly basis. Their loading capacity is 16 tons, with eight tons set aside for operational use with the sprinklers.
Sprinkler trucks share the same operational characteristics of other sanitation vehicles in terms of running at a moderate speed, usually not exceeding 35 km/hr, with frequent starts and stops. Given their purpose for spraying, watering roads and sprinkling, the vehicles’ operational efficiency is strongly influenced by gear-shifting performance. For sprinkler trucks with a manual transmission, accelerating quickly with a full load of water is a challenge in terms of effort and fuel consumption. These factors affect both efficiency and productivity.
Allison’s Continuous Power TechnologyTM delivers smoother, seamless, full-power shifts for superior acceleration. Each shift is made automatically when appropriate, allowing drivers to precisely manage performance and control.
After more than four years of operating a manual transmission-equipped sprinkler truck, Xue Chunhua was selected to drive the first Allison-equipped vehicle at the beginning of the year. “I now realize how easy it is to drive an automatic sprinkler,” he said. “I am enjoying the reduced labor-intensity which enables me to concentrate more on the road sections that need repeated sprinkling and improve the quality of work.”
