Exhibitors Roll Out Products to Trim Trailer Drag, Boost Fuel Efficiency
LAS VEGAS — Several companies at the Management Conference & Exhibition here showcased systems designed to reduce trailer drag and help carriers improve fuel efficiency.
ATDynamics, Hayward, Calif., announced an “aggressive growth and product development strategy” to provide fuel savings with rear-drag aerodynamic fairings for up to 4 million high-mileage semi-trailers operating on U.S. and international highways,” including in Europe.
The company displayed its TrailerTail system, a rear-mounted fairing that extends about four feet from the back of a trailer.
U.S. regulations allow up to five feet of extended length, as long as it does not contain freight, CEO Andrew Smith said at an MCE press conference.
He said one Canadian company — Canadian regulations allow a shorter extension — was getting 6% less fuel efficiency in its Canadian operations with a shorter fairing than its U.S. runs.
“There are two clear trends in the industry,” Smith said. “One, you can get anyone to test anything, and two, more companies have economic incentives for performance goals . . . [so] this is more than a nice-to-have technology.”
ATDynamics displayed its system on the end of a full-length trailer that also had side fairings made by Transtex Composite, Montreal, which said the two systems combined could boost trailer efficiency by as much as 10%.
Transtex’s system can boost fuel efficiency by 4.5% to 5%, said Marc Bolduc, the company’s general manager. It offers three types of materials as options, and fairing systems can be an effective way to comply with looming California Air Resources Board regulations to boost fuel efficiency by 5%, Bolduc said on the show floor.
Tom Rodak, marketing director for trailer manufacturer Wabash National Corp., said at MCE that “there has been a big demand for trailer skirting by private fleets and for-hire carriers. This is especially the case because of the CARB rules.”
SmartTruck Systems, Greenville, S.C., displayed an undercarriage system that a company official described as the opposite of a side skirt. Instead, “we invite the air to come under the trailer,”
SmartTruck President Mitch Greenberg said.
A sloped fairing underneath the trailer — coupled with a drop-down at the trailer’s rear — funnels air behind a trailer, reducing drag, which SmartTruck said can boost fuel efficiency by 5% to as much as 10%.
The company has about 20,000 units deployed, including about 1,800 with Con-way Truckload, Greenberg said at an MCE press conference.
Aerofficient, Rocky Face, Ga., a supplier of aerodynamic side fairings for trailers, introduced two new product lines: hinged fairings for intermodal container chassis and lower-cost side fairings without hinges.
The company said it designed its new chassis fairings to withstand rigorous operations in intermodal transfer yards and to flex and bend to absorb shock.
At a press conference on the new products, CEO Jim Reiman said container chassis operate in “one of the most demanding, challenging environments in the trucking industry.”
The company said its “Aerofficient Basic” side fairings for dry van and refrigerated trailers do not feature a hinge but still can bend inward and outward to negotiate obstacles as high as 18 inches.
Staff Reporter Seth Clevenger contributed to this story.
