Aerodynamic Truck

Daffyduck528

Expert Expediter
One thing to point out is straight trucks have to be under 40' long. Can this be done with a 22' box and a decent sleeper size with a longer aero nose? Or will your truck be more like a Coe and a shorter bbc? It kind of reminds me from the picture of the old Peterbilt 372 or the ford gas turbine concept.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Daffyduck528's comment about straight trucks being limited to 40 feet is important. Though, I know that exceptions have been made for devices that save fuel and make the truck longer.

Bob, a photo of Diane's and my truck is below. It is exactly 40' long as it sits. How might you streamline a truck like this?

now_landstar.jpg
 

tknight

Veteran Expediter
Silly question if a st8 truck limit is 40' bumper to bumper why are tour coaches 45' also many motor homes are 45' now. Like Hillary says "what difference do it make"
 

moose

Veteran Expediter
why not just computer controlled tag axle?
Bob, you do not need to invent the wheel on this one. British Columbia have a {outrageous} lift axle law. the axle must be lifted if less then 1,500p. of weigh is on the Axle.{can be adjusted}
there's only one company that make's this.
Wheel Monitor Inc. Innovators in Truck/Trailer Intelligence Technology
look for product named : Balancer B150
call them, they have a great costumer service.
.
how many miles do Expediters average per week? Per year?
FedExCC fleet average is 74,000 mil per year per truck. other carrier do a bit more
 

Shepherd777

Rookie Expediter
One thing to point out is straight trucks have to be under 40' long. Can this be done with a 22' box and a decent sleeper size with a longer aero nose? Or will your truck be more like a Coe and a shorter bbc? It kind of reminds me from the picture of the old Peterbilt 372 or the ford gas turbine concept.

Hi DaffyDuck528 -

Thanks for your input. I forgot you Expediters are restricted to 40' OAL.

The nose of the BulletTruck was longer strictly for cooling system (radiator, charge-air-cooler, A/C condenser) packaging. That's why the front end of that truck was longer. Remember, we were converting a current truck which was never meant to be converted.

When we designed the new truck, we were aware of OAL. Believe it or not, the new truck is exactly the same length as a KW T2000. I know it doesn't look like it, because the wheel-base on the 2015 model was incorrect when we did it way back in 2010. So it shows too much overhang. That front axle is actually well forward on the next-generation truck. Again, that $7000 3D printed model of the new truck was done in 2010, almost 4 years ago now. When we get a chance, well check out the SolidWorks software program and determine the largest box we can do for you guys and still keep the OAL restriction legal.

I know the Class 8 FMCSA rules pretty well, but I am unfamiliar with the rules for straight trucks. Class 8 rigs are allowed up to a 60" rear of trailer aerodynamic device.

Does anyone know if you folks are allowed ANY extension for aero devices?

The cab of the new truck is not a conventional, and not a COE. We like to call it a hybrid cab. NOT a hybrid drivetrain, just a morphing of a conventional and a COE body into a hybrid body. It will be more like a conventional as the body will not tilt forward for servicing as cabovers do.

Funny that you say it reminds you of a Peterbilt 372. Peterbilt stole my earlier design to build that 372. We built the first aerodynamic COE way back in 1983, 5 years before Pete released that 372 in 1988.

Cummins1.jpgPete 372.jpg

AirFlow Truck 1983 Pete 372 1988
 

tenntrucker

Expert Expediter
Silly question if a st8 truck limit is 40' bumper to bumper why are tour coaches 45' also many motor homes are 45' now. Like Hillary says "what difference do it make"

I think that some states a st8 can be 45'.

sent from my Galaxy S3
 

moose

Veteran Expediter
Bob, when it comes to aerodynamics, Europe pass us on the curb.
the Cab over model will always get better fuel-millage, and less drag.
i will be the first one to buy a truck IF someone will be willing to build a cab over over here.
i can tell you that in EU starting year models 2016 cabs will be allowed to have a centralized consul, and rear view mirror will be allowed to be eliminated. all steering will be electronics, and air break system is eliminated.
is that of any interest for you?
 

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Daffyduck528

Expert Expediter
Not to mention they have independent front air suspensions so they glide nicely over the road. ZF provides most of them. Volvo and Freightliner use them in their bus divisions in the US.
 

Shepherd777

Rookie Expediter
Daffyduck528's comment about straight trucks being limited to 40 feet is important. Though, I know that exceptions have been made for devices that save fuel and make the truck longer.

Bob, a photo of Diane's and my truck is below. It is exactly 40' long as it sits. How might you streamline a truck like this?

now_landstar.jpg

Hi ATeam -

What a beautiful rig you and Diane have! I just love the nice clean look & the patriotic theme!

Please don't take this personally, as I am only commenting on the aerodynamics, and not on your beautiful, and obviously very high-quality rig. Aerodynamically, it's what we call "dirty" though. On the plus side, Volvo does wrap the front bumper around to meet the tires, which is a good thing. But the bumper itself is almost flat to the wind and has a very slight radius at its front corners. The radiator is almost 90 degrees flat to the wind, except for where they sweep it back slightly on the top radii. Your brackets and your spotter mirrors are very dirty, aerodynamically. The windshield looks to be close to the 65 degree to the wind industry normal. My current Chevy Impala LTZ sedan has a 32 degree windshield and a previous Chevy Z28 had a 28 degree windshield. Notice the 9 steps that the airstream has to travel to get over the top of the box:
1. - top of radiator, 2. - hitting bottom of windshield, 3. - hitting sun visor, 4. - hitting first lower hump of the sleeper, 5. - hitting the top of the first hump, 6. - hitting the lower part of the second hump, 7. - hitting the top of the second hump, 8. - slamming straight into the top of the box, 9. jumping over the top radius of the box. Whew. That air is sure expending a lot of its energy, and your fuel, doing that.

Notice also how Volvo makes the rear of the cab where it meets the sleeper narrower than the sleeper. Which itself is narrower than the box. So you're getting the same air-step type movement as you are with the airstream going over the top of the box, but to a much lesser extent.

Obviously, there are no modifications that we could do with your basic Volvo cab itself. But if it was my beautiful rig, I would:

Add full-length skirts all the way to the extreme rear of the rig. This is assuming enough clearance between the tires and the skirts. If you have dual tires, this may be problematic. If you have wide base tires, this would be relatively easy. The stainless steel boxes for blankets , straps, etc. would have to be moved outboard to be perfectly in-line with the skirts. Or, the skirts would need access doors to be able to get to the supplies in the boxes. I assume the cab is of course air-ride and the box of course is not. So you need a small vertical air-gap between the skirts under the sleeper and the skirts under the box.

If there are dual tires, I would switch to Michelin X-Ones and an ATIS (Automatic Tire Inflation System) as a true run-flat solution that will keep the X-Ones @ at a constant 120 # for added fuel savings.

A rear of truck aero device is absolutely required for good performance, assuming compliance with FMCSA. I would add a 48-60" full-height custom TrailerTail.

Aerodynamically and rolling-resistance wise, that would be the best one could hope for.

Please tell me about engine, cruise rpm, cruise speed, etc. There is a LOT more to great mpg than just aerodynamics. But obviously, aero, is a big part of it.

By the way, I hauled LandStar loads exclusively while testing the BulletTruck Last year. Every we mile we drove, except deadheading of course, was a LandStar revenue load. None of that test track crap. Real loads, real roads, I backed into every stinking small alley dock and other obstructions that everyone else does.
 
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Shepherd777

Rookie Expediter
Thanks for the info moose!

Obviously you folks do a little less miles than the 110,000 annual miles of an OTR Class 8 rig.

But you'll still be able to save a ship-load of $$$ at 75k miles.
 

moose

Veteran Expediter
currently there is no ATIS (Automatic Tire Inflation System) for drive axles, only for tags and trailer axles.

 

Shepherd777

Rookie Expediter
I always thought my truck had a very aerodynamic look to it

quneva8u.jpg


sent from my Galaxy S3

Hi tenntrucker -

Actually, it does have an aero look for a large OEM truck. I love the sweep of the roof from the top of the windshield to the top of the box. Not perfect, but close.

If I owned your truck, I would add: wide base tires with ATIS, full-skirts, rear aero device if permitted. Please tell me about cruise rpm, cruise speed, etc.
 

Shepherd777

Rookie Expediter
Bob, when it comes to aerodynamics, Europe pass us on the curb.
the Cab over model will always get better fuel-millage, and less drag.
i will be the first one to buy a truck IF someone will be willing to build a cab over over here.
i can tell you that in EU starting year models 2016 cabs will be allowed to have a centralized consul, and rear view mirror will be allowed to be eliminated. all steering will be electronics, and air break system is eliminated.
is that of any interest for you?

moose I disagree. Our SolidWorks CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software proved the cab we designed is the most aero. Again, it's a hybrid of a cabover and a conventional.

I see one of your locations is Israel. Are not all European and Middle-East trucks constrained in length, and required to be cabovers, due to OAL laws???

What Europe does is of absolutely interest to me, I'm an American.
 

Shepherd777

Rookie Expediter
currently there is no ATIS (Automatic Tire Inflation System) for drive axles, only for tags and trailer axles.


Not correct. Here are the ones we built for the BulletTruck.

If there is enough interest, we could offer them.

DSC_0776.jpgDSC_0406.jpg

Believe it or not, our next-gen truck will have steering tire ATIS as well.

So we'll have 5 axle ATIS for Class 8, or 3 for you guys.
 
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moose

Veteran Expediter
Bob, with all do respect i have Solid-Works in the house, if you wish you can email me the Step file, or E-drawing, and we can argue then.
Personally i like Cimatron, but haven't used it for over a decade now.
thow i do own America's best Expediter truck {a Hino}, am a trucker myself, drive Fitzgerald Glider kit and pulling a copy of the OOIDA trailer.
i go Snowbirding to Israel every winter, and while there i learn a lot about EU trucks.
the trucks in EU are heavier smaller and way more powerful. necessity is the mother of all invention, and fuel prices are why they get less drag and better fuel millage. the Tier5 motors that are coming out now are the mothers of all fuel saving- it's mind-blowing to see what they came up with.
o'h & BTW, am an Diesel Engineer by trade, {class of 91, so bit out of date...}
 
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