Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/718131
further with a 3.07 rear axle ratio. The crawler gear is basically a large gear located in an extended housing in the transmission. The bigger the gear, the slower it turns and the faster the axle ratio. Stronger drive lines have been added to accommodate faster axle ratios. The transmission can operate in one of two modes: efficiency or perfor- mance. Efficiency mode is ideal for highway speeds while performance mode is designed to handle moving massive loads across bruising terrain. You can choose the mode by clicking a button on the back of the shifter. In either mode, shifting is both timely and smooth. "You can operate this transmission efficiently with performance at these (low) speeds, and then take it out on the highway," Long adds. "This is the first time we've been able to talk efficiency in vocational trucks." Switching to manual mode, which I did to navigate up a 21 percent grade while loaded with 80,000 pounds of aggregate, gives the driver the flexibility to call their own shots when the need arises, but it's not a necessity in most cases. Gears can be selected up and down easily enough with two buttons located on the side of the center- mounted shifter. Coming down that same grade proved even easier than climbing it thanks to an intuitive engine brake that feels like an old friend who's got your back. I rolled the truck down the grade into a hard left turn and barely touched the service brake. The faster gearing in the axle pro- vided better throttle response and the increased engine efficiency of the 500 horsepower D13 enhanced the truck's overall drivability. Koeck says demand for vocational trucks is now growing relative to longhaul tractors thanks to a re- bounding construction segment and a slowing longhaul segment. Volvo sets new AMT penetration benchmarks seemingly every month, and that's sure to only increase with the additional flexibility the crawler gears and power plant updates bring for next year's models. The VHD is a comfortable truck to drive, and with a new flexibility to feed a curb-cutter or to lay asphalt at a walking pace, the limits rounding the corner in to 2017 are limitless. • 14 www.bigrigowner.com S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6 HPD