Fleet Maintenance - 23

»»If the U.S. EPA's Phase 2 emissions regulations
again include trailers in the future, trailer
manufacturers would need to meet increasingly
stringent mandates for 2021, 2024, and 2027
model years, says Great Dane's Chris Lee.
Photo courtesy of Great Dane

The key for fleets is the
operations they run. Many
of the technologies designed
to provide optimal efficiency
and fuel consumption reductions work best when the
vehicle is traveling at more
consistent highway speeds.
While that works well for
over-the-road fleets, it's not
the best use case for urban
and regional fleets running
in heavier traffic at slower
speeds. This is a main reason,
says Jeff Sims, president of the
Truck Trailer Manufacturers
Association (TTMA), that the
organization petitioned to not
apply the Phase 2 standards
to trailers.
"These devices work at
highway speeds - 60 miles an
hour-plus," Sims says. "So if
you were forced to buy aerodynamic side skirts, boat tails,
and low rolling resistance
tires, and you are a local fleet
running in heavy traffic, all
you did was add weight, cost,
and maintenance and you got
zero benefits."
This is not to say fleets
would not benefit from the
advanced technologies. But
Sims argues it should be a
voluntary program based on
application and fleet choice,
as is the case with the current
SmartWay certification.
"Even some places they have
dedicated long-haul equipment and they have dedicated
local equipment," Sims adds.
"If they order 1,000 trailers,
under SmartWay they can
choose some number to be
equipped and some number
not to be equipped with aerodynamic devices. The greenhouse gas rule, if it were to
be in effect, would force them
to put that on every piece of
equipment they purchase."
With or without mandatory
specing, the trucking industry
will continue to see improvements on existing technology
as well as introductions of

new products. Some of these technologies may
include electrification, better improvements to
using a combination of aerodynamic devices,
zero-emissions trailer refrigeration units, "airless"
tires, and more.

"What you will see is further advances in
materials like laminated metal composites and
high-impact plastics that allow manufacturers
to continue to reduce weight," Adkins says." The
industry is ripe for a trailer technology explosion.
The technology has arrived but is not quite at
the price point where a value proposition can be
developed that will drive mass adoption."

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Fleet Maintenance

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