Front view of a semi-truck (Photo courtesy of the Federal Highway Administration)
With diesel prices above four dollars a
gallon, truck drivers are looking for ways to reduce
fuel consumption. Lester Graham reports some new
technology might help:
Transcript
With diesel prices above four dollars a
gallon, truck drivers are looking for ways to reduce
fuel consumption. Lester Graham reports some new
technology might help:
Manufacturers have been making trucks more aerodynamic. But, the trailers they haul
are not. In Holland they’ve found a way to reduce the drag caused by turbulence under
and around the trailers.
At the Delft University of Technology, researcher Michel van Tooren says properly
designed side-skirts – those are panels down low on truck trailers – make them more
aerodynamic.
“Of course side-skirts are not something new in the transport world. They are available.
Even McDonald’s has used for a while, trucks with side-skirts. The thing is that this
specific device has an aerodynamic trick on the front that makes it much more efficient.
Yeah, it really seems to work.”
Van Tooren says it cuts fuel use by an average of 7.5%, but some drivers have reported
a 15% savings in fuel.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.