A specialist non-destructive excavation company has employed Allison automatic transmissions in its trucks to ensure more precise and safer maneuvering around hazardous work-sites.
RNR Vac Worx operates two Isuzu FVR 165 300 rigid trucks equipped with Allison automatics as working platforms to transport and operate the specialized high pressure turbo nozzle and heavy duty suction unit that is used for the non-destructive excavations on sensitive work sites.
Randall Church, who owns RNR Vac Worx with business partner Ray Behan, says the use of automatics has enabled the company to operate more safely, more efficiently and more precisely.
“All of the sites we work on by nature are tight and in difficult locations, which often is the reason they need a non-destructive excavation solution,” said Church.
“Unlike a manual transmission the Allison automatic moves smoothly without jerking and the imprecise movements that result from trying to operate a clutch. This is critical because we are often backing up to a ditch or a fence and need precise, smooth movement to correctly position our truck,” he said.
“The Allison automatic allows the driver to edge slowly and smoothly into location in a way that just can’t be achieved with a manual truck,” added Church.
The other benefit from the Allison automatic according to Church is the easy operation in Sydney traffic ensuring more efficient and safer operation at normal speed and in crowded conditions.
Church and his crews travel all over the Sydney metro area to various work sites and they have been operating for the last few months on the major road works for Sydney’s new Northern Beaches Hospital. “That site is a 120km round trip from our base in Camden on the south west fringes of the city, so we often have a long drive to reach work sites and the automatic makes driving those distances much easier and safer,” said Church. “At the end of a long day that starts around 3am the last thing you want to do is drive 60 or 70 km through traffic pushing a clutch all the time, it becomes very tiring very quickly”.
“Any new trucks we buy will from now on only be automatics because they have made our job so much easier,” he added.
The RNR Vac Worx Isuzu’s carry about five tonnes of equipment with includes a large pressure washing turbo nozzle unit to water blast soil and turn it into a slurry which is then extracted with what is basically a very large high powered vacuum. The process leaves delicate or fragile cabling or pipes intact and undamaged while also being more precise and less damaging than mechanical excavators.
The Isuzu FVRs are powered by a 300hp, eight litre turbo diesel engines and are mated to an Allison 3000 Series fully automatic six-speed transmission.
Church and Behan have been operating the company for the past four years and purchased the two Isuzu FVRs in 2016 replacing manual trucks. They also plan of replacing a third smaller Hino manual to an Allison automatic transmission in the near future.
Source: Allison Transmission
