I'm new here, but I have been fighting the wind via aerodynamics, and trying to improve big-rig fuel efficiency for over 30 years now.
I built one of the worlds first aerodynamic 18 wheelers in 1983. I have been building the current one for almost 3 years now. It should be done in a month or two.
3 days before Christmas, the wind blew over my empty, brand new, 53' 2011 custom Strick dry van trailer. It didn't even seem that windy here that night. My house is 5 miles from my shop, and I only had two small branches down in my yard. I think it must have been low-level wind shear that was the culprit with the trailer.
The full skirts, completely covering the wheels and tires sure didn't help to avoid the blow-over. The wind was unable to go under the trailer. Still, I have never seen anything like this incident.
As I sit and type this, it is very, very windy outside in a rain storm and I am scared ship-less that when I return to my shop tomorrow, it will be blown-over again. I was going to move it next to the building to protect it after the blow-over, but there was no place to park the 53' monster next to the building.
