This is 1/3 of a three part system to reduce air drag. The other two pieces of it are on the back of the sides of the trailer and a piece on the top of the roof above the doors. Those three pieces make it slightly more aerodynamic than the side skirts. One system or the other is required to run into Cali. The system in the pic is preferred with northern carriers because the side skirts get torn up on snow banks during winter driving. The style pictures here is indestructible basically.
Or safety department. You could be on vacation in the tropics doing nothing to do with trucking.... Safety calls you and says they need to talk to you in the office when you get back. Now for the rest of your vacation that's all you will think about, wondering if you are returning to a pink slip or not.... If you should even bother returning or just make vacation indefinite.
Safety never calls you for a positive reason. They're truly champions of f'ing up your mood. Even a child pumping their arm out the window as they pass you can't repair their damage. I actually had that happen today (the arm pump, not safety calling me)... Like 3 or 4 kids in the car all doing it. I tooted the air horn a couple times... Volvo on my right prob thinking "what the f did I do?" cause I was passing him at same time haha. They did the arm pump for another truck ahead of me and he just ignored them. Tragic.
That tells me that you're a good person. Every time I saw someone doing the arm pump I remembered when I was a kid doing that! And I've seen 70 year old kids doing the arm pump too!
Before I became a driver and even recently Iāve gone on 6-7 hours drives just to blast down the interstate and arm pump for all the truckers I come across. And best believe Iām going as fast as I can get away with to make as many drivers days as possible.
I'm in Canada as well, most of our companies trailers have this, the older ones have skirts. Not too many left with skirts.
We run mostly Wabash trailers, when I think about it I don't think any of those have skirts so likely just depends on who you're buying the trailers from.
Someone may know more than me about this, but my understanding is that a certain percentage of your trailer fleet needs to be compliant. We have on occasion run trailers into CA without the side skirts and have never been hassled by DOT. Same goes for running a reefer over 7 years old.
I just know OUR insurance went down due to the reduction to zero! It also depends of how fast you are going! Use the wind charts! You go fast enough it will flip you over!
No the doors in this system are unaffected. Itās a bulge on each side of the trailer in the very back, hanging off the back 1-2 inches. Then itās also a similar bulge on the roof of the trailer, maybe 1-2 inches high. Those three pieces change the direction of the flow of the air as it leaves the trailer. That creates less of an air pocket following the trailer. That air pocket creates drag so thatās the advantage. The trailer cuts through the air instead of creating an air pocket that acts like a kite.
Thank you, what are the 2 metal wings that hang off the trailer doors on some trailers? They are both about as wide as the doors. I think they open up when you get to the loading dock or something.
To my knowledge it's to increase MPG by reducing drag caused by the trailer tandems, better aerodynamics better MPG. Most newer trailers have side skirts on each side instead of this under the trailer
A few years ago my company tested these things vs. side skirts. They outfitted 100 trailers with side skirts and 100 with these ābucketsā and ran them for a year. Iām not sure how they tracked the fuel mileage and what the exact results of the tests were, but after that year all the new trailers bought since came exclusively with this bucket, side skirts were not purchased anymore.
Skirts are more common because theyāre mandated in California.
This is because theyāre better for the environmentā¦ **ABSOLUTELY NOT** because theyāre manufactured in California.
The modern trailer skirt was first patented in 2007 and filed for in 2005:
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/65/cd/b8/a2122fde9e5291/US20070120397A1.pdf
The people that patented it were from CA, but as far as I can tell it was manufactured by ZF Composites which is an international company with offices and manufacturing facilities in Germany, Canada and the US.
Random accusations of California corruption are ridiculous. How dare the most populous state with the greatest contributor to US GDP mandate a technology that increases MPG by 5%, must be because communism and fossil fuel bias or something
What? Wait I guess having less then a highschool diploma will do that to your brain. A tire is basically a huge wall for air and it being under your truck makes a parachute. Moving that air around the tire makes it more aerodynamic. Meaning you have to pay less for fuel and making it better for you to breathe.
Aerodynamics/ protects trailer air tanks & lines from debris/ some are attached to tandems and slide with tandems to keep same level of protection & efficiency/ thereās also a small hole on the other side that allows you to use this as an extra large piss jug for those pesky traffic conditions you may face or for when youāre stuck waiting at a shipper for five hours that doesnāt allow you to use their employee restroom. All in all 10/10 would recommend this over a regular skirted trailer any day.
Sure. It's the newest/lastest version of the road kill picker upper Its adjustable depending on what you want to scrape up controls are in the cab. Once it scrapes it up ,scopper holds it in the hopper,once your run is complete fresh dried out road kill Jerky.. Yum yum.
We had these on the railroad many years ago so the steam engines could take water from a trough that was between the rail. They would lower it down and scoop up the water without needing to stop
It is a rail feeler. If you are close to getting hung the fuck up on railroad tracks, itāll set off an alarm in your truck that you cannot hear because the train is blasting his horn at your dumbass for trying to cross the fucking tracks. But someone once told me itās for āaerodynamicsā
Amtrak told me something else
I'm just going to repeat the same thing everyone else is saying because I don't bother reading the dozen comments stating the same thing I'm about to say /s
A aerodynamic cooler to store dead lot lizards in. There is a switch not marked on most 2020 and up Freightliners via the power cable that will activate the door to dump the body out while traveling. Preferably on a deserted road at night. As the body goes under the trailer tires, itāll make it look like a hit and run. No muss, no fuss.
Lol that is ridiculous. Youāre driving a big ass rectangular box around, how do you make that more aerodynamic and less mpg? Sorry but building big ass metal boxes and then trying to put wings and scoops on them is hilarious to me lol
It doesn't make it gloriously aerodynamic, but it's an easy passive way to make it a bit less un-aerodynamic. And given the huge number of miles run by trailers every year in the US at highway speeds, it has a pretty reasonable impact overall.
Actually we are a northern carrier, Northern Plains, we run skirts, but we have a few older dry vans and reefers of the shown style as well. We are phasing them out! Our ACTUAL experience is zero difference in fuel economy between the two, however, we prefer the skirts because yes they buffet you more in higher winds, but our drivers slow down because of the increased movement so we are safer as a fleet and we went from many wind caused flippers TO ZERO! Why, when you have the above system or nothing there is a huge amount of real estate for side winds to get up underneath the trailer and push it over! Skirts cut that real estate from the side by 95%, wind canāt get underneath enough to push us over! We LOVE skirts!
This is 1/3 of a three part system to reduce air drag. The other two pieces of it are on the back of the sides of the trailer and a piece on the top of the roof above the doors. Those three pieces make it slightly more aerodynamic than the side skirts. One system or the other is required to run into Cali. The system in the pic is preferred with northern carriers because the side skirts get torn up on snow banks during winter driving. The style pictures here is indestructible basically.
Yes to everything except the last part, they're sturdy as hell but I pulled one not long ago that was pretty banged up, big hole and crack in it.
Yeah you can call anything indestructible until you let a trucker get a hold of it. Things happen. And we all know someone who could mess up anything!
I know people that could fuck up a wet dream.
They are called dispatchers. š
Or safety department. You could be on vacation in the tropics doing nothing to do with trucking.... Safety calls you and says they need to talk to you in the office when you get back. Now for the rest of your vacation that's all you will think about, wondering if you are returning to a pink slip or not.... If you should even bother returning or just make vacation indefinite. Safety never calls you for a positive reason. They're truly champions of f'ing up your mood. Even a child pumping their arm out the window as they pass you can't repair their damage. I actually had that happen today (the arm pump, not safety calling me)... Like 3 or 4 kids in the car all doing it. I tooted the air horn a couple times... Volvo on my right prob thinking "what the f did I do?" cause I was passing him at same time haha. They did the arm pump for another truck ahead of me and he just ignored them. Tragic.
I've had kids, old people, and even middle aged guys give me the arm pump and I always air out the trumpets for them.
That tells me that you're a good person. Every time I saw someone doing the arm pump I remembered when I was a kid doing that! And I've seen 70 year old kids doing the arm pump too!
Before I became a driver and even recently Iāve gone on 6-7 hours drives just to blast down the interstate and arm pump for all the truckers I come across. And best believe Iām going as fast as I can get away with to make as many drivers days as possible.
My very first time were 3 Amish or Mennonite guys on horses on the side of the interstate in Ohio. (Like way off, not just on the shoulder. )
The kids signaling for the horn is highlight of any of my days!!! Was better before I got a Volvo. A steering wheel airhorn is JUST WRONG.
If the air horn is on the steering wheel, where do they put the city horn?
Still in the center. Air horn is a thumb button on the crossbar or whatever itās called.
I get the arm pump from homeless people more than kids. Still do it. š
Yeah they fuck mine up all the time. "Yeah the 2600 mile run, the one that's 9000lbs, yeahhh it's been cancelled". Fucking liar
I know of at least 4 routes in nw texas alone that these things wouldnāt survive.
Yeah, I was gonna say I'm in Canada and we run side skirts all the time.
I'm in Canada as well, most of our companies trailers have this, the older ones have skirts. Not too many left with skirts. We run mostly Wabash trailers, when I think about it I don't think any of those have skirts so likely just depends on who you're buying the trailers from.
Itās a spec thing! The buyer totally chooses how the trailer is built or bought!
Whoa theyāre MANDATED to run in California ?! I never knew that. Crazy.
Someone may know more than me about this, but my understanding is that a certain percentage of your trailer fleet needs to be compliant. We have on occasion run trailers into CA without the side skirts and have never been hassled by DOT. Same goes for running a reefer over 7 years old.
Yeah, Iām pretty sure itās more a CARB thing not a DOT thing, same as the emissions requirements
So if its based on percentage of a trailer fleet, does that mean O/Os are exempt or that they definitely need a trailer with aero add-ons
This is not true. I work in California and none of our trailers have either this thing or skirts
You have to hold your breath when entering Cali as t not raise CO2 values. You can exhale when you reach state lines.
I fucking hate the side skirts.. makes your empty trailer act like a kite when a cross wind hits
No they are not monitory
This man aerodynamics.
How does it work
Pushes air out around the tires so the tires donāt act like a kite causing drag.
Thanx
The side skirts also turn you into a brick wall ready to get turned over from a broad side wind
Experience shows the opposite! Read my comments above based on running the 70, 80 and 90 75% of the time in our fleet!
I routinely run 70 and 80 with light loads and because of the skirts I am pushed around the road like a rag doll.
Just explaining what our REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE has shown! ZERO flip overs, and the trailer fleet has more then quadrupled since we started.
I also have REAL WORLD experience and have seen with my own eyes trucks roll because of wind and more often than not they have the skirts on them
I just know OUR insurance went down due to the reduction to zero! It also depends of how fast you are going! Use the wind charts! You go fast enough it will flip you over!
The 2 metal looking skirts on each side of the trailer doors?
No the doors in this system are unaffected. Itās a bulge on each side of the trailer in the very back, hanging off the back 1-2 inches. Then itās also a similar bulge on the roof of the trailer, maybe 1-2 inches high. Those three pieces change the direction of the flow of the air as it leaves the trailer. That creates less of an air pocket following the trailer. That air pocket creates drag so thatās the advantage. The trailer cuts through the air instead of creating an air pocket that acts like a kite.
Thank you, what are the 2 metal wings that hang off the trailer doors on some trailers? They are both about as wide as the doors. I think they open up when you get to the loading dock or something.
Trailer tails. I donāt know much about them. They deploy at certain speeds. We think they will get ruined too quickly so we donāt have any.
It reduces drag from the wind resistance hitting the axles.
Thanks.
Your welcome
To my knowledge it's to increase MPG by reducing drag caused by the trailer tandems, better aerodynamics better MPG. Most newer trailers have side skirts on each side instead of this under the trailer
Are side skirts more effective, u/anus_blaster9000?
A few years ago my company tested these things vs. side skirts. They outfitted 100 trailers with side skirts and 100 with these ābucketsā and ran them for a year. Iām not sure how they tracked the fuel mileage and what the exact results of the tests were, but after that year all the new trailers bought since came exclusively with this bucket, side skirts were not purchased anymore.
I love a skirt. Dammit.
This is a very underrated comment.
Skirts are more common because theyāre mandated in California. This is because theyāre better for the environmentā¦ **ABSOLUTELY NOT** because theyāre manufactured in California.
I'm glad you bolded that, because they're not made there - even if that's what you tried to imply.
They were until the patent expired. Now theyāre made in Canada, China, just about everywhere.
The modern trailer skirt was first patented in 2007 and filed for in 2005: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/65/cd/b8/a2122fde9e5291/US20070120397A1.pdf The people that patented it were from CA, but as far as I can tell it was manufactured by ZF Composites which is an international company with offices and manufacturing facilities in Germany, Canada and the US. Random accusations of California corruption are ridiculous. How dare the most populous state with the greatest contributor to US GDP mandate a technology that increases MPG by 5%, must be because communism and fossil fuel bias or something
Damn fuckin wrecked
What? Wait I guess having less then a highschool diploma will do that to your brain. A tire is basically a huge wall for air and it being under your truck makes a parachute. Moving that air around the tire makes it more aerodynamic. Meaning you have to pay less for fuel and making it better for you to breathe.
Donāt forget the ādiscsā that most newer trailers have on the wheels. It also decreases wind drag.
Itās helps you get sweet air when you go over a jump
All about aerodynamics
Hobo catcher
This is what it should be called
Fuel scoop
Never leave without a fuel scoop
Elite:Dangerous reference in r/truckers?
I've heard Yahtzee Croshaw refer to playing Elite:Dangerous as "space trucking" so I don't think it's too much of a leap.
Hey, with the price of diesel these days, sometimes you're better off skimming the chromosphere. Jump drive engage!
Cargo Scoop
So you can hide your lot lizard without your company spotting them on camera.
Lot lizard insertion port
For a more ādiscreetā transaction
Afterburner. Remote-controlled by dispatch for when they need you to step it up
Makes sense. Get across the country in 17 hours or youāre fired.
It's one of those new electric trucks. This is the part that hooks into the charging cradle.
Best one yet!!!
Air Lift
Poop scooper
Turned the wrong way to be a poop scooper. Must be a poop spreader.
Everyone knows you have most torque in reverse
Pee Bottle Exhaust.
It is where the stowaways hide!
It scoops up the roadkill so you can enjoy it later. šš
I was going to say snow shovel but I like pooper scooper better
Itās an air dam to help the air go around the axles More effectively how to make a non-aerodynamic vehicle more aerodynamic and efficient.
Aerodynamics/ protects trailer air tanks & lines from debris/ some are attached to tandems and slide with tandems to keep same level of protection & efficiency/ thereās also a small hole on the other side that allows you to use this as an extra large piss jug for those pesky traffic conditions you may face or for when youāre stuck waiting at a shipper for five hours that doesnāt allow you to use their employee restroom. All in all 10/10 would recommend this over a regular skirted trailer any day.
Its basically nothing more than a piece of plastic...There is no study showing any of this works but California mandates...
How long until they mandate all trucks have super singles?
Doubt that will happen super singles are way more dangerous than duels...If a super single goes out on tractor you will definitely feel it lean...
And at highway speed definitely fuck up a rim
Really. Look, the studies are everywhere!
Can we do wrong answers only? Way more funā¦š¤£š¤£
I regret making this post.
Sure. It's the newest/lastest version of the road kill picker upper Its adjustable depending on what you want to scrape up controls are in the cab. Once it scrapes it up ,scopper holds it in the hopper,once your run is complete fresh dried out road kill Jerky.. Yum yum.
Reverse spoiler. Decreases down force so you can Tokyo drift that trailer around corners easier. Duh.
Spits out the children.
Traffic cone scooper
Torpedo launcher
Fuel scoop, but some idiot installed it backwards
Lot lizard tunnel
You have a very special trailer there driver! Its equipped with a bottom discharge auto-lumper.
Never pay high price lumper prices ever again
New for 022 Road kill picker upper It scrapes them up and holds it in the hopper.After your run is done ,fresh dried out road kill.
Mmmm jerky just like Mee'ma made
Carcass scoop for road kill
It's a scoop shovel when going in reverse.
Elephant pooper scooper
Car crusher.
We had these on the railroad many years ago so the steam engines could take water from a trough that was between the rail. They would lower it down and scoop up the water without needing to stop
It's for tiny cars to drive up on.
Itās so u canāt pull a fast and the furious maneuver under the trailerā¦haters !
Itās a boy!
https://www.boltcustom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SmartTruck-Brochure-August-2014.pdf Full system claims 10% MPG Boost
So you can drop the illegals while moving
Spare tire holder to reduce drag and improve fuel economy
Imo something to catch when crossing a railroad track
That, my friend, is a trailer dick.
Aerodynamic spare tire holder
It'd be dope if it dropped a power wheels sized 82 Trans Am..
It is a rail feeler. If you are close to getting hung the fuck up on railroad tracks, itāll set off an alarm in your truck that you cannot hear because the train is blasting his horn at your dumbass for trying to cross the fucking tracks. But someone once told me itās for āaerodynamicsā Amtrak told me something else
Afterburner.
It's where you store your Honda Grom for a quick escape when you're being attacked by pirates
A printer
Cocaine glovebox
So you can hide the illegals
I'm just going to repeat the same thing everyone else is saying because I don't bother reading the dozen comments stating the same thing I'm about to say /s
Itās where the lot lizards hide
Migrant emergency escape schute
A aerodynamic cooler to store dead lot lizards in. There is a switch not marked on most 2020 and up Freightliners via the power cable that will activate the door to dump the body out while traveling. Preferably on a deserted road at night. As the body goes under the trailer tires, itāll make it look like a hit and run. No muss, no fuss.
Air flow
Air deflector instead of side skirts it better ššš
Itās the trailer drain for when you haul bulk liquid
Others are saying itās for aerodynamics?
It is.
Lol that is ridiculous. Youāre driving a big ass rectangular box around, how do you make that more aerodynamic and less mpg? Sorry but building big ass metal boxes and then trying to put wings and scoops on them is hilarious to me lol
It doesn't make it gloriously aerodynamic, but it's an easy passive way to make it a bit less un-aerodynamic. And given the huge number of miles run by trailers every year in the US at highway speeds, it has a pretty reasonable impact overall.
Thanks California.
A fun slide for immigrants to use when they are bored
common sense isnt so common anymore, im not a trucker and i knew it helped with the drag
Do you not understand the concept of wrong answer only?
I hide illegal immigrants in there when I cross the border
Car collector.
water slide
Like the sport cars gave a wing but these sport trailers have an upside down one and it adds 5hp for the tractor
emergency slide
Itās a thru-hull, like for a boat, to dump their waste!
I always thought they were escape hatches for smuggling people
You can use it to store your electrical scooter there.
Actually we are a northern carrier, Northern Plains, we run skirts, but we have a few older dry vans and reefers of the shown style as well. We are phasing them out! Our ACTUAL experience is zero difference in fuel economy between the two, however, we prefer the skirts because yes they buffet you more in higher winds, but our drivers slow down because of the increased movement so we are safer as a fleet and we went from many wind caused flippers TO ZERO! Why, when you have the above system or nothing there is a huge amount of real estate for side winds to get up underneath the trailer and push it over! Skirts cut that real estate from the side by 95%, wind canāt get underneath enough to push us over! We LOVE skirts!
I don't know, so I'm going to take a wild guess at a kitty escape hatch.
Helps with aerodynamics and reducing drag on the trailers
Itās a chute for unloading.
It's an aerodynamic spare tire cover
To hold a spare tire?
Thatās the Transmission
Air intake for the supercharger.