Aero Semi-truck butt......
 

First time I ever say this......it folds up!

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2548.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2547.jpg

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Still haven't seen a boat tail on a semi but some of the team trucks at 12 Hours of Sebring had smooth hubcaps with an interesting mount on them. Hopefully I can find the pictures I snapped of them.

I've been noticing those more and more these days.

Looks like any other UFO sighting to me.

ATDynamics aero-equipped trailers, getting to be quite a common sight on the I-5, I-10, I-15 & I-40. Long distance runs going in & out of the metro LA transportation hubs and throughout the Southwest.
Look out for these fleets on your highways. Fleets | ATDynamics

I'm glad that these are finally catching on. I remember reading about wind tunnel tests that NASA did in the late 1980s or early 1990s where they found that flaps sticking out the back of a trailer like this were something like 80%+ as effective as an actual boat-tail on the trailer.

-soD

I saw a couple driving back from California. I think that the first one said "Trucktail" or something. I did see one truck with smooth wheel covers.

Oh and I saw one truck with vector generators. I knew that you guys would love that! :D

Got a source on that? Interesting.

Good spotting, crews. I've been on the lookout as well.

It's always amazed me that an industry driven by cost-per-mile would have almost the exact same MPG today that they had 40 years ago. Considering a 1-mpg increase is actually about a 14% increase...

YOu are spot on.
I think that your comment is a perfect example of how 'culture' can drive an economy.
Truck drivers tend to be a very'tough' crowd
It certainly destroys the 'simplisctic' supply and demand concept taught in college.

Around here, they haul a lot of sugar beets in those hopper-bottom trailers. Years ago, I thought if someone wrapped a tarp real tight around the trailer there would be fuel mileage benefit, and now I'm seeing companies produce the wraps.

Progress?

Wait until they find out that there is a truck on the road spending half as much on fuel!

I know!
Might be like watching evolution condensed into 5-10yrs!

Sorry, just my memory of the NASA-Ames "Astrogram" newsletter. They had an article on wind-tunnel testing of trailer designs either in the 40x80 wind tunnel, or at the big Computational Fluid Dynamics center. The illustration that went along with the article showed two "flaps" off the end of the trailer compared to a boat-tail design. The two flaps were about 80% as effective.

-soD