Sharp Transport Inc. has become the first carrier in the United States verified by the EPA to earn the SmartWay Elite Trailer designation. Outfitted with low rolling resistance tires, side skirts and the Stemco TrailerTail, the Etheridge, Tenn.-based Sharp Transport’s trailers are equipped to achieve more than 10% fuel savings.

The SmartWay Elite trailer designationis given to trailers equipped with low-rolling resistance tires and fuel-saving technologies such as side skirts or TrailerTails.

“Our existing customer base and new customers alike are starting to request these certifications and rankings during bid renewals and new quotes,” said Jarit Cornelius, director of maintenance at Sharp Transport.

“We’ve always been an efficiency-conscious fleet, but just couldn’t quantify the adoption of any more aerodynamic additions to our fleet until the Stemco engineers paid us a visit earlier this year,” Cornelius continued. “They sent their team out to retrofit one of our trailers, took one of our drivers for the day and compiled comparison data with and without their product. When the reports came back, we immediately standardized their TrailerTail on all of our new over-the-road trailer fleet orders.”

“Helping fleets like Sharp Transport cut fuel expenses and reduce carbon emissions are two of the major goals of Stemco’s Innovative Tire and Mileage Solutions division,” said Bob Montgomery, Stemco’s vice president of innovative tire and mileage solutions. “We take pride in helping fleets stay competitive, profitable and compliant while helping lower the amount of pollutants they introduce to the environment. As the EPA and NHTSA develop their phase two greenhouse gas standards, more and more carriers like Sharp Transport are turning to fuel-saving aerodynamic technologies like the Stemco TrailerTail in order to get a jump on compliance.”

“Our customers are not only doing their part to improve the future, they are starting to only partner with carriers that care as much as they do,” said Cornelius.