Allison and FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente, a 30-year long partnership
“Our collaboration with FCC Medio Ambiente has always been enriching,” said Trond Johansen, Director, European Area Sales at Allison Transmission. “Embarking on a journey with a client that requires such high standards has unquestionably provided us with valuable insight into the heavy-duty cycles of their fleet of municipal waste collection trucks.”
Allison Transmission and FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente (or FCC Medio Ambiente) recently met at the 2024 Transport Awards, this firm participated on the judging panel and Allison served as a sponsor. FCC Medio Ambiente, a key division of FCC Group, a global leader in municipal services, has been collaborating with Allison since the 1980s. Today, nearly all heavy-duty vehicles acquired by the company are equipped with Allison fully automatic transmissions.
“We first encountered Allison Transmission in the late 1980s. At that time, people were starting to talk about noise reduction in garbage collection trucks and cleaner engines,” said Antonio Bravo Díaz, Director of the Machinery Department and Juan Álvarez, a technical specialist in the Machinery Department. “It was common to hear the ‘scraping’ of the manual transmission pinions in the earlier garbage trucks, which disappeared with automatic transmissions.”
“It was then that we decided to seek a higher caliber of service, in the form of a Pegaso Urbano garbage collection truck featuring an Allison automatic transmission and Kuka Rotropress bodywork,” said Bravo. “It was an unqualified success and, from that moment on, this formed part of FCC Medio Ambiente’s specifications for all waste collection vehicles.”
“Our collaboration with FCC Medio Ambiente has always been enriching,” said Trond Johansen, Director, European Area Sales at Allison Transmission. “Embarking on a journey with a client that requires such high standards has unquestionably provided us with valuable insight into the heavy-duty cycles of their fleet of municipal waste collection trucks.”
“These vehicles operate with very heavy-duty cycles, continuous stops and starts and heavy loads. The same truck is used for several consecutive shifts, with different operators of varying experience, and the driveline suffers,” said Johansen. “The Allison fully automatic transmission with torque converter protects the driveline, resulting in less contact between parts, fewer breakdowns and greater reliability. All these benefits mean that companies with fleets providing this type of service are seeking automatic transmissions with torque converter and the option of an integral hydraulic retarder.”
Allison Transmission, great benefits for municipal solid waste collection vehicles
Allison fully automatic transmissions are also perfectly suited to compressed natural gas (CNG) engines over a wide range of applications. Allison Continuous Power Technology, increases engine torque and the patented torque converter affords optimal truck performance and fuel efficiency.
“FCC Medio Ambiente put the first CNG vehicles into service in 1995 to reduce the environmental impact of fleets providing services in urban areas. Since that time, we have been strong advocates and promoters of CNG vehicles as a means of reducing emissions in vulnerable environments such as city centers,” said Bravo.
“Today, our fleet has over 1,900 CNG vehicles, and all heavy-duty vehicles are equipped with Allison transmissions. The gas engine combined with automatic transmission and torque converter have proven to be a guarantee of high performance,” added Juan Álvarez.
