Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/324702
32 | Overdrive | June 2014 Drive TesT Tough enough W hen Göran Nyberg was settling into his position as the new president of Volvo's North American operations a few years ago, he noticed an opportunity: a heavy- haul on-highway tractor that also could handle occasional off-highway work. Nyberg knew well Volvo's large pres- ence in Europe's high-horsepower/ heavy-duty markets, but there was noth- ing comparable for North American buyers. So Volvo's North American engi- neering team threw themselves into their work and crafted the VNX. The result, said Jason Spence, Volvo's marketing product manager for long- haul business segments, is a truck that takes the best from the company's aero- dynamic VN tractors and vocational VHD truck models. The VNX handles well on the highway but is tough enough to work on the most rugged jobsites. For our test drive, Spence selected a route through the Smoky Mountains near Asheville, N.C. The VNX was pulling a flatbed loaded with concrete blocks, rated at 77,500 pounds – a tough job on the 6 and 7 percent grades as I-26 winds its way into Tennessee. "It's a great chance to show the pulling power this 550-horsepower D16 engine offers," Spence said. "And it's also a great way to show how well our I-Shift automated manual transmission works in tough terrain with heavy loads." I-Shift routinely is spec'd for severe ser- vice applications in Europe, he said. "In North America at the moment, automat- ed manuals are making the most inroads in the on-highway/long-haul markets. But the I-Shift is not limited to those types of jobs. It was designed from the Pulling a nearly full load of blocks, this VNX showed strength and grace on the curves and grades of the Appalachians. With I-Shift, Volvo's heavy-haul VNX easily transitions from road to severe service BY JACK ROBERTS The I-Shift automated manual transmission has been so popular with new-truck buyers – 71 percent are choosing it – that it's now the tractor's standard offering. TestDrive_0614.indd 32 6/3/14 11:07 AM