Photo: Aaron Marsh/ Fleet Owner
ZF demonstrated its ReAX and OnTraX systems for heavy trucks and PowerLine automatic transmission aimed at Class 5-8 medium/heavy duty trucks and HD pickups at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
ZF demonstrated its ReAX and OnTraX systems for heavy trucks and PowerLine automatic transmission aimed at Class 5-8 medium/heavy duty trucks and HD pickups at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
ZF demonstrated its ReAX and OnTraX systems for heavy trucks and PowerLine automatic transmission aimed at Class 5-8 medium/heavy duty trucks and HD pickups at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
ZF demonstrated its ReAX and OnTraX systems for heavy trucks and PowerLine automatic transmission aimed at Class 5-8 medium/heavy duty trucks and HD pickups at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
ZF demonstrated its ReAX and OnTraX systems for heavy trucks and PowerLine automatic transmission aimed at Class 5-8 medium/heavy duty trucks and HD pickups at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

Preview: ZF's new steering, transmission products target fleet profitability

June 14, 2018
ZF demoed coming steering products for heavy duty trucks and a new medium-to-heavy-duty truck/ HD pickup transmission it says offer a number of fleet benefits.

INDIANAPOLIS. Driveline, chassis and safety technology company ZF demoed upcoming steering products for heavy duty trucks and a new medium-to-heavy-duty truck/ HD pickup transmission—both of which the company says can improve fleet profitability and vehicle performance in a number of ways.

With 2017 sales of $42.5 billion, ZF has been targeting expansion in global markets including North America, reinvesting nearly 10% of that amount in plants, equipment, engineering, product development and other areas. The company is leveraging its large footprint as an automotive supplier and product knowledge to grow its expanding commercial product business.

Internally, what ZF calls its "T Division" (signifying "Transportation") combines all its commercial truck and bus business activities. That includes driveline, chassis, steering, axle and transmission systems and technology as well as advanced safety systems for commercial vehicles.  

PowerLine transmission

Drawing from its 8-speed passenger car automatic already in wide use in vehicles like the Ram 1500 pickup, BMW X5 and Porsche Panamera—some 50 million units have been produced over the last 10 years—ZF showcased its coming PowerLine automatic transmission designed for Class 5-8 commercial vehicles up to 57,000 lbs combined weight, though use in lighter classes also is possible. The company says it's "ideal" for applications ranging from HD pickups to beverage and distribution trucks to school buses.

"We are using our 8-speed gear concepts and the developed intelligence of the product and bringing it to commercial vehicles," explained Christian Feldhaus, senior product manager of sales at ZF. "We are reusing mechatronic components which are the 'brain' of the transmission," he said, "and are leveraging that to make commercial vehicles more intelligent."

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He's written about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined Fleet Owner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he's a keeper of knowledge at Fleet Owner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all around trucking—and still turns a wrench or two. Or three. 

And he's never without a camera, or so rumor has it.

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