Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/42794
the trailer hostage. I used to drop and hook with other trailers, but this trailer has benefited me so much I don't let anybody else touch it." Olmstead says he regularly records mpg of 7.75 and above pulling the trailer behind his high-mileage 1998 Freightliner Classic. He also attached Air Tab deflectors to the cab and shortened the gap between the cab and trailer. "I went from high 6s and low 7s to often above 8," he says. Olmstead estimates he saves $10,000 to $15,000 a year with the modifications. Rate of payback To qualify for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay-certified list of approved aerodynamic devices, a product must complete the SAE/TMC J1321 testing. Though SmartWay lists minimum fuel savings, manufacturer testing can yield higher numbers, and a user's actual fuel efficiency gain depends on wind, load weight and other factors. Those elements and your miles will determine how quickly you recoup your investment. For AeroFlex side skirts, Graham estimates: "At 100,000 miles a year and $4 a gallon fuel at 7 percent fuel efficiency, the payback is a little under four months." Smith says the ATD TrailerTail tested at a fuel (Continued on Page 76) Comparing the fuel savers The following percentages indicate minimum fuel savings on aerodynamic technologies, according to third-party testing used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership. "Advanced" refers to later generation products that achieved 5 percent or better fuel savings without being used in combination with a gap fairing or tail device. Transicold Gap Fairing, Freight Wing gap reducer, Laydon Composites gap reducer and Nose Cone's 3-D gap reducer. 1% TRAILER GAP REDUCERS. Recommended to be used with side skirts. Products are the Carrier 1% TRAILER BOAT TAIL. Recommended to be used 4% TRAILER SIDE SKIRTS. Recommended for use with a gap reducer or tail. Among the manufacturers are Carrier Transicold, Fleet Engineers, Freight Wing, Laydon Composites, Ridge Corp., Silver Eagle, Transtex and Utility Trailer. 5% ADVANCED TRAILER END FAIRINGS. Makers 5% ADVANCED TRAILER SKIRTS. Makers are are ATDynamics, ATS and SmartTruck. Aerofficient, Airflow Deflector, ATDynamics-Transtex, Atlantic Great Dane, Carrier Transicold, Freight Wing, Laydon Composites, Ridge Corp., Silver Eagle, Strehl, Sweet Bottom, Transtex, Utility Trailer, Wabash National and Windyne. Buzz Lovelace says reducing his speed and installing a Nose Cone has raised his fuel economy by at least 0.5 mpg. with side skirts. Devices are the Aerodynamic Trailer Systems dual lobe boat tail, AeroVolution inflatable boat tail, ATS SmartTail and Transtex rear trailer fairing. Reefer update schedule Reefer owners who run in California face another set of deadlines, depending on the age of what the state calls transport refrigeration units. California-based TRUs had to be registered with the state Jay Olmstead says if he has to give up his carrier's only trailer equipped with an aero tail and under- trailer skirts, he'll buy his own and outfit it with the fuel-saving attachments. Air Resources Board by July 31, 2009, and the following month CARB staff began enforcement. Beginning with 2001 model year reefer engines, CARB set deadlines for low-emission TRUs, followed by ultra-low- emission TRUs. Model year 2004 with 25 hp and greater must meet the standard by Dec. 31, and model year 2005's deadline is Dec. 31, 2012. For each year after that, add seven years to the TRU engine year to get the compliance year for that engine — for example, model year 2011 engine will be Dec. 31, 2018. OCTOBER 2011 OVERDRIVE 45 Courtesy of Jay Olmstead Courtesy of Buzz Lovelace