ATDynamics introduces new rear end technology to reduce trailer drag
The TrailerTail as mounted on a Utility trailer at the Mid-America Trucking Show. (The Trucker/Lyndon Finney)
By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff
3/26/2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — ATDynamics today announced the commercial launch of its aerodynamic TrailerTail, a rear-drag reduction device that the company said in testing has proven to increase fuel efficiency of long-haul tractor-trailers by more than 5 percent.
The announcement came at a news conference at the Mid-America Trucking Show here.
The company is displaying the new technology on a Utility trailer.
“Suction drag at the tail end of a trailer causes the greatest amount of aerodynamic inefficiency still unaddressed by modern trailer designs,” company CEO Andrew Smith told reporters here. “The worst shape to pull down the highway at 65 mph is a big rectangular box.”
The company’s engineering manager, Chuck Horrell, said the four tapered sides of the device, which is attached to the rear doors of a trailer, streamlines the airflow at the rear of the trailer and dramatically reduces fuel consumption.”
Smith noted the TrailerTail also improves vehicle safety by providing additional stability and reducing spray at the end of the trailer during inclement weather.
“The industry is in transition,” Smith said. “Diesel prices are at record highs and concern over global warming will lead to even stricter emissions standards. At this critical time, we are providing long-haul fleets trucker-tough technology that can reduce fuel consumption and pay for itself in less than one year.”
The device costs $2,800 and can be installed in about two hours. It adds about 250 pounds to the weight of the trailer.
It must be activated manually at the rear of the trailer, but Smith said the company was working on a model that would open automatically when the truck reached 35 mph and close when the speed dropped below 35 mph.
Smith said his company felt confident the product would be well accepted for three reasons:
• Fuel prices have never been as high as they are now and there’s nothing to indicate they’ll go down.
• There is a “tremendous” misalignment in fleet managers’ compensation. “Their compensation is not tied to operating expense savings,” he said, indicating that the industry might move in that direction given the fuel cost situation.
• His company has invested many, many hours in the development and testing of the product and is confident of its utilization.
Although the current TrailerTail model must be retrofitted onto the trailer, Smith said his company has a patent on the development of a model that would be mounted as the trailer is being manufactured.
Smith said the TrailerTail is constructed of lightweight, rugged panels designed to endure daily wear and driver abuse, yet ensure smooth opening and closing. A patented TrailerTail hinge system allows truckers to operate doors and access loading bays normally. The device collapses from four feet to three inches in length in less than eight seconds, he said.
Horrell said when closed, the TrailerTail does not impede the opening and closing of the trailer doors.
Third-party SAE J1321 testing conducted by Robert Transportation at Energotest 2007 in Montreal showed that the TrailerTail boosts efficiency by 5.1 percent at 62 mph and 6 percent at 68 mph.
“Based on average long-haul trailer mileage, the TrailerTail can deliver more than $1 billion in fuel savings annually to the North American trucking industry,” Smith said.
ATDynamics was founded in 2006 and is located in San Francisco. Smith said the company focuses on the commercialization of fuel-efficiency technology for the global freight industry.