Volvo Trucks North America recently delivered the 100,000th truck equipped with its I-Shift automated manual transmission. The Volvo VNL 670 was delivered to Watkins & Shepard Trucking during a brief reception at Transport Equipment, a Volvo Trucks dealer in Missoula, Montana.
Originally introduced in Europe in 2001, Volvo has sold more than 575,000 I-Shifts globally. In 2007, Volvo introduced the I-Shift in North America, becoming the first truck OEM to bring an integrated AMT to the market. Volvo made the I-Shift standard on all Volvo-powered models in 2013. In 2015, I-Shift penetration in North America reached a record 83 percent.
Driver Rick Candler was selected by Watkins & Shepard CEO Ray Kuntz and President Walt Ainsworth to receive the VNL 670 model, in part due to his nearly 28 years of service with the company. The truck was customized with Candler’s name on the driver’s door, a hand-painted decal recognizing its significance and a one-of-a-kind custom silver shifter.
