Michelin Unveils Trailer Aero Package, Wide-Base Tire
ATLANTA — Michelin North America has unveiled a trailer aerodynamics package for dry van and refrigerated trailers, a five-piece kit that incorporates side skirts, trailer-end fairings, aerodynamic mud flaps and a wake reducer to deliver what the company said is up to 7.4% improvement in fuel efficiency.
Michelin Americas Truck Tires has also introduced a new wide-based tire for drive-axle positions.
Michelin's X One Line Grip D wide-base tire
In fact, the development of the aero kit, the Michelin Energy Guard, was compelled by a desire to build upon the company’s efforts with wide-base tires, said Adam Murphy, Michelin vice president of marketing.
“This came about in an interesting way for us,” Murphy said during a March 4 press conference at the annual meeting of the Technology & Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations, noting that the company has “some proprietary knowledge [and] some expertise around aerodynamics.” From there, he said, the question became, “Could we do something in aerodynamics that would have as much or even greater impact on the fuel efficiency of fleets and the protection of the environment as all of the hard work that we have done [with] low-rolling resistance tires?”
That led to the development of the aero kit, which uses flexible trailer skirts designed to bend should it strike an object or debris, and a patent-pending bracket and slider that reinforce the skirt. The bracket and slider have spring action to help reduce skirt damage and maintenance costs, he said. The wake reducer on the back of the trailer minimizes the effects of air recirculating behind the trailer.
This combination can help fleets save 1,000 gallons of fuel for every 100,000 miles, which amounts to $3,000 in fuel savings per truck per 100,000 miles, Murphy said. Michelin said these figures were validated in fleet testing. Murphy said the kit will be available on June 1, and will carry a 10-15% premium over other combinations of trailer aerodynamic products on the market. And he noted that the Michelin Energy Guard is just one example of efforts the company will continue to pursue as it seeks to expand options for its customers.
Michelin Americas Truck Tires
“We have an incubator program office that is intended to generate new ideas and nontraditional ideas and help us to expand into some areas that are maybe beyond tires, look into different ideas,” he said.
But within its core business, Michelin also introduced the X One Line Grip D wide-base tire, which has a “three peak mountain snowflake” designation for use in severe snow conditions, and wide open shoulder grooves to help with all-weather traction. The SmartWay-verified tire will deliver an annual fuel savings of $550 versus the company’s X One XDN2 tire. It will be available initially in two sizes, and will reach the market May 1, Murphy said.
#TMC18 is underway! pic.twitter.com/fnIFyY2UNn — American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) March 5, 2018
