Wabash National Corp. introduced a new rear impact guard design option for its 53-ft. dry van trailers at the American Trucking Associations’ Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. The RIG-16 Rear Underride Guard System is engineered to prevent underride in multiple offset, or overlap, impact scenarios, the company said.
“Safety is our number one value and priority, and we have a responsibility to our customers and the motoring public to continue to advance our trailer designs to new levels of performance,” said Dick Giromini, Wabash National’s president and chief executive officer. “For the past three years, we have spent considerable time, money and facility resources in research and development specifically focused on enhancing rear impact guard performance. As part of these efforts, we also consulted and worked with some of the premiere testing facilities in the country, and engaged in numerous crash tests, before releasing the RIG-16 Rear Underride Guard System. ”
The new rear impact guard (pictured above) is constructed of advanced high-strength steel. Its design features two additional vertical posts and a longer, reinforced bumper tube, all of which are engineered to work together to absorb energy better and deflect rear impact at any point along the bumper; the new guard is also fully galvanized to resist corrosion, the company said.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., one of the largest transportation logistics companies in North America, recently ordered 4,000 Wabash National DuraPlate dry van trailers with the new rear impact guard. Production of the new J.B. Hunt units began in January.
Wabash National’s new rear impact guard is in a limited production phase currently and will ramp up during the next 18 months.
