Changing Lanes

December 2015

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CHANGING LANES 20 DECEMBER 2015 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM Industry insider easier, Saffo says. "Whatever shift we make is not going to be because of the cost of fuel," he says. "It will be the cost of maintenance and the needs of increasingly automated systems. It's going to shift over because we need the higher performance and control that electric brings." Futurist Thomas Frey foresees experimentation with many non-fossil fuel power sources. "Solar and wind are taking off like rockets," he says. "We're putting up solar panels and wind farms everywhere, and the price of photoelectric cells is going down. "The gasoline industry is not going to go away, but it will start declining," Frey says. "I think we're real close to the peak use of gasoline in the world. We hit the peak number of car use in the United States in June of 2005, and it's been declining ever since." Will we recognize the trailers of tomorrow? By Jack Roberts Trailer design today is a series of compromises between cargo space, weight and fuel economy. Meanwhile, new technologies are pushing OEMs to reevaluate long-standing designs and look at how trailers will be used in the future. With the announcement of Phase II of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation's proposed fuel economy and greenhouse gas regulations, the trailer is becoming a more signifi cant part of the overall equation, says Dick Giromini, president and chief executive offi cer of Wabash National. "Designing a trailer with a lower coeffi cient of drag results in higher fuel economy and less GHG emissions for the tractor-trailer combination," Giromini says. "Additionally, we are constantly looking at the balance between weight and design." About 60 percent of fl eets today are in weight- sensitive applications, he says. The trailer is the fi nal frontier for major aerodynamic improvements in the tractor-trailer combination, says Charlie Willmott with the Strick Group, Daimler Trucks' partner for its 2015 SuperTruck. "The end result will be far superior to today's van products," he says. Integrating telematics and GPS tracking systems into new trailer designs is yet another piece of the puzzle. Giromini points to the so-called "Internet of Things" that will allow fl eets logistical transparency and fl ow into all facets of their operations. "We're rapidly moving from IoT being a possibility to more of a reality," he says, with the challenge being merging truck technology and trailer technology effectively. In the near future, Willmott sees "smart" trailer systems being fully integrated with the tractor to provide enhanced telematics, sensors for self- inspection, predictive analytics for diagnostic maintenance, data for better driver and management operating visibility and control, improved public safety and security, and reduced cargo loss and theft. "Van trailers 10 years from now will bear little resemblance to the trailers of today," he says.

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