At the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nev., ATDynamics, a supplier of tractor-trailer rear-drag aerodynamics technology, announced on Monday, Oct. 8, that it is pursuing an aggressive growth and product development strategy aimed at providing fuel-saving rear-drag aerodynamic fairings for the four million high-mileage semi-trailers operating on North American and European highways.
ATDynamics said 10,000 TrailerTails circulating on U.S. highways to date have logged more than 300 million miles and saved more than two million gallons of diesel fuel. ATDynamics said rapid international adoption of its technology could save the transportation industry more than $80 billion in fuel costs over the next decade and offset the carbon emissions equivalent to taking more than four million passenger vehicles off the road.
TrailerTails are available for factory installation at all trailer OEMs. As a retrofit, installation requires two people and takes about one hour. ATDynamics has a no-risk pilot testing program for up to 200 TrailerTails.
In Europe, TMT Express conducted a pilot test of the TrailerTail technology in 2012. The company said it already has seen a 6 percent fuel savings by using a 122 cm tail device, said Andrew Smith, chief executive officer of ATDynamics. A number of European fleets are scheduled to begin pilot tests in early 2013 on a 50 cm tail. The European Commission likely will permit the same length of tail device used in the United States (120 to 130 cm) after 2014, Smith said.
To achieve its aggressive growth objectives, ATDynamic said it continues to expand its TrailerTail product line to provide trucking fleets with effective and profitable rear-drag technologies to fit all trailer configurations and fleet operations.
ATDynamics announced the latest TrailerTail technology to be verified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an “Advanced Trailer End Fairing” – the TrailerTail Trident, an adaptation of the standard TrailerTail specifically designed for lower-mileage drop-and-hook operations to provide standalone compliance with California Air Resources Board requirements for trailer aerodynamics.
“ATDynamics has witnessed a fundamental shift in the U.S. trucking industry since our initial TrailerTail launch in 2008,” Smith said. “Competitive fleets understand the fuel savings and durability of TrailerTail equipment, and their principle focus now is to implement the most cost-effective program possible. ATDynamics is focused on making it as easy as possible for trucking fleet customers to deploy TrailerTails in their fleets – and never again operate a trailer without a tail.”
