THE ARMOUR LCV SPEC’

The LCV gear we were running on my ridealong with Dwayne Schurman of Armour Transport was a Volvo VN670. The engine was a Cummins ISX15 with its newest 475-hp rating and 1,650 lb.-ft. of torque. The transmission was Eaton’s 16-speed LSE UltraShift Plus, which has been well integrated with the Cummins engine.

This powertrain employs modest downspeeding but not nearly to the extent of the SmartAdvantage. That, however, is limited to 80,000 lbs, so the 16-speed is a nice option for fleets that will gross closer to 110,000 lbs. It’s a versatile spec’ that provides good fuel economy at 80,000 lbs and also 110,000 lbs. That’s what Armour loves about the LSE/ISX combo.

The LCV trucks go out light, often pulling an empty rear trailer and come back heavier with two fully-loaded trailers. The most challenging aspect of assembling this spec’, Cummins’ Adam Whitney tells me, is dialing it in for optimum performance and fuel economy at both gross vehicle weights and also at 90 km/h for when in LCV configuration and 100 km/h for when the same tractor is pulling singles.

Armour Transport is pleased with the spec’. It ordered three such trucks and deployed them in June. They’re getting more than 6 mpg, which CEO Wes Armour told me is impressive given the heavy payloads and hilly terrain in northwestern New Brunswick. You can read more – much more – about this spec’ and my ridealong here.

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James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 24 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


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