[Otto]

1. Scraping at the front end: Cut and hinge the lower fairing like the visor on a motorcycle helmet. Retraction string at nose. Pull the string and it lifts up for driveways and slopes, release the string and it drops down low for highway driving. A fancy system would have automatic retraction at, say, 35 mph to protect it from idiot drivers.

2., Shape: You've done magnificently with the Class 8 cards you were dealt. If able to start with a clean piece of paper, just go to the Air Force boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB near Tucson and see if they'll give access to the nose/cockpit section of a mothballed C-141. Make female fiberglass molds off that, then duplicate the aero shape for the truck nose and cabin, add tractor/trailer joint fairing, and you're done. Trailer mods per your work already proven.

3. Wheel hub motors: See my comments on the other thread about MTSU add-on motors to a car. Hub is the worst and heaviest place to apply drive torque, rim the best, compromise only as needed practically.