Wabash National has announced that its DuraPlate Products Group’s newly launched AeroSkirt was approved by SmartWay as a proven fuel and emissions saving device. In particular, independent testing has verified that a trailer equipped with a DuraPlate AeroSkirt was shown to provide a 5.6% fuel savings. The company also has calculated that you can expect return on the investment in less than a year in an average over-the-road operation.
Those are nice numbers, but what’s the likelihood the claims will prove as effective in your fleet?
The idea behind the AeroSkirt was to take a proven material and use it in a design that is durable, effective and easy to install. DuraPlate is a Wabash-developed composite material consisting of an inner and outer layer of high-tech steel bonded to an inner core of high density polyethylene using a proprietary process. The product has been used for over a decade in the company’s dry van trailers. Today there are over 360,000 DuraPlate trailers on the road. It’s clearly a proven product.
Jamie Scarcelli, vice president and general manager of Wabash’s DuraPlate Product Group, describes a very desirable characteristic of
DuraPlate as a choice for use in a trailer side skirt. He said, “It has the ability to flex and deflect damage. In addition, its mounting brackets allow it to flex both inward and out. If there is any damage, it is very easily repaired.”
Based on these comments, it would appear that the design is probably durable, but what about the claimed fuel savings? This is where SmartWay certification requirements offer a level of user confidence. The required testing, with which suppliers seeking product approval must comply, is both extensive and thorough. Mike Courtney, senior project engineer for the DuraPlate Products Group, said, “In addition to road tests and durability tests, several iterations of controlled engineering tests were done with various skirt designs. The result is the current item that offers a 5.6% fuel savings.”
The SafeWay Partnership requires applicants to use standard SAE/TMC fuel economy tests that utilize a control product and a test product––in this case equipped and non-equipped trailers. The control trailer, which stays the same throughout all the testing, allows an accurate determination of the savings offered by the test trailer. The Partnership actually goes beyond these accepted test conditions. Courtney said, “SmartWay puts additional restrictions on both ambient temperature and wind speed. As a result, what should have been three days of testing for us took 12 days.”
Will you get 5.6% better fuel economy in your operation by installing a DuraPlate AeroSkirt? Not likely, but you probably will save fuel, but just how much will vary from day to day. Depending of the particular application and the weather, you may even achieve somewhat more or possibly less. But this is true of any of the approved SmartWay Partner products.
SmartWay fuel-saving tests are effective, but the tests do not address durability or installation time. Of durability, Rod Ehrlich, Wabash National chief technology officer, said, “With the DuraPlate AeroSkirt, we’ve developed an aerodynamic solution capable of withstanding some of the most abusive applications.” Regarding installation time, Allison Henk, a corporate spokesperson, said the company estimates less than two labor-hours.
All told, an item that offers better than a 5% fuel savings and an ROI in less than one year is one that deserves the attention of any over-the-road operator.