New tractor-trailer side skirts tailor-made to hem-in fuel consumption
Two new ecologically efficient side skirts that accommodate larger single wide-base tires are being highlighted at the March 25-27 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.
Produced by the Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co of Industry, Calif., both designs are verified through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay program and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as meeting governmental fuel efficiency standards.
Model USS-120 can provide more than 4 percent in fuel savings, while model USS-160 is capable of exceeding a 5 percent consumption reduction rate.
“Additionally, EPA SmartWay has classified the USS-160 as an “advanced side skirt,” which allows truckers to use them without any other aerodynamic device on dry vans,” says Craig Bennett, the company’s senior vice president of sales and marketing.
The line was subjected to “extensive structural testing at Utility’s state-of-the-art real-world test facility in Southern California in combination with aerodynamic testing at industry test tracks,” he reports.
They are produced “with galvanized high tensile steel braces that are virtually indestructible, and unlike others, can simply be ‘bent’ back to their original shape if damaged,” Bennett says. “For optimal durability, we have designed this unique bracing system allowing the side skirt to flex both inward and outward.”
Spirit Truck Lines of San Juan, Texas is the first fleet to apply the units in actual commercial highway use, having recently purchased 300 new 2011 model-year trailers utilizing the designs.
“Besides using wide-base single tires and wide track suspension systems, we have added Utility’s new side skirt to the already lightweight 4000D-X Composite (trailer),” says Raul Garza, the trucking firm’s president. “This will allow Spirit to improve the efficiency of our fleet as well as help the environment.”
Spirit has more than 800 of Utility’s trailers in its lineup.
“We value Spirit’s loyalty to our products,” says David Escobar at Utility Trailer Sales of Southeast Texas, a local dealer, “and we are honored that they are the first fleet to have the new Utility side skirts.
The skirts can also be retrofitted to tractor-trailer rigs already on the road.
For more information, visit www.utilitytrailer.com and www.spirittrucklines.com.
