So these teardrop shaped trailers that are supposed to cut fuel use,
Do they actually make much difference?
11.26 average increase in mpg apparently:
About a 10% fuel saving I believe.
best was 23.7% worst was 4.03%
and 13.18% on euro tests at 4m
Anyone worked out how much fuel gets wasted because of the extra height of the curved roof possibly leading to a sizeable detour round low bridges.
I’d like to see fleet figures not manufacturers figures for savings.
Juddian:
Anyone worked out how much fuel gets wasted because of the extra height of the curved roof possibly leading to a sizeable detour round low bridges.I’d like to see fleet figures not manufacturers figures for savings.
I’ve often thought about that
Stevie
Most of these trailers are on pallet system trunks. These would be on planned routes (mostly motorway & DC).
If you are sending four trailers from Cornwall to Derby 6 nights a week, then it’s worth the investment and, yes it would make a difference. Of course the driver can also do his bit.
To be most effective, they need pairing with the correct height wind-deflector on the unit I believe.
A big firm could save thousands in juice per annum if they do a lot of M-Way work.
Does anyone know of you can retrofit the roof to a standard curtainsider or is it not that simple?
I doubt its possible to retro fit teardrop roofs, DHL had several of their trailer chassis rebuilt with the new bodies as part of the teardrop program
hammer:
To be most effective, they need pairing with the correct height wind-deflector on the unit I believe.A big firm could save thousands in juice per annum if they do a lot of M-Way work.
Does anyone know of you can retrofit the roof to a standard curtainsider or is it not that simple?
Actually the wind deflector is on the front of the trailer. Retrofit would not be worth the inveastment I suspect. You may notice that they usually don’t have rear doors (no need as they are loaded from the side) and on the latest ones the curtains pull right round to the rear - this is so they can be pulled back out of the way before the trailer goes into the shed. For safety reasons (the FLT drivers drive like maniacs), once inside the driver is not allowed out of his cab.
Santa:
hammer:
To be most effective, they need pairing with the correct height wind-deflector on the unit I believe.A big firm could save thousands in juice per annum if they do a lot of M-Way work.
Does anyone know of you can retrofit the roof to a standard curtainsider or is it not that simple?
Actually the wind deflector is on the front of the trailer. Retrofit would not be worth the inveastment I suspect. You may notice that they usually don’t have rear doors (no need as they are loaded from the side) and on the latest ones the curtains pull right round to the rear - this is so they can be pulled back out of the way before the trailer goes into the shed. For safety reasons (the FLT drivers drive like maniacs), once inside the driver is not allowed out of his cab.
Yeah, and it’s only when you pull outside to close your curtains, you realise the muppets have put bread on the bottom and caterpiller engines on the top of the double deck trailers.
■■■■■■’ muppets literally stuck a load of gearboxes or something like that up there on me once, I told them to shift them, they said there was nowhere else they could go, so they ended up on the floor of the warehouse. That was UPN btw. The forkies there are like the automated robots on a Startrek film where the Enterprise is being repaired again.
Santa:
Most of these trailers are on pallet system trunks. These would be on planned routes (mostly motorway & DC).
not all of them we use them for urban deliveries and a 14’6 instead of a 13’9 conventional trailer can mean a detour. on the upside, they are new so things like tail-lifts and freezer doors are still usable 
for now at least 
on the ones at DHL Diageo Coventry they have
a natty swing out arm for eay susie coupling…
on the downside the roofs flex and the curtains come loose
i think were still needlessy pushing fresh air along the road
The 1st I saw was a m&s trailer, but many companies have started getting them now. Some have some really good ideas such as the pull out suzzie box. The manufacturer I worked for on there product leafet of the cheatah range, they disperse the air above and below the trailer and the side gards, royal mail had a custom build in which the cabs dome could be adjusted manually for more streamline between the top of the dome and trailer, heres a pic of what the concept looked like.
Edited: Thought Royal mail had a concept one but I got mixed up on the info.
by keeping my foot off the gas and setting the cruise control at 52 mph instead of 56 last night I have saved over 20 litres of fuel on the same round trip. Monday and Tuesday night i used 203 and 206 litres without sparing the horses… wednesday night 188 litres , and my total shift time wasn’t much more either, my extra pay will be nowhere near the 28 quid i saved… lets round it down to 25, that would save £125 per week on one shift £250 on both shifts. multiply that over the year and its a lot more than I can be bothered to work out at this time of day so i am going to bed, goodnight all.
Don Bur have the patent for the tear drop shape. The others are just trying to introduce gentle slopes so they don’t infringe the patent.
Silver_Surfer:
Don Bur have the patent for the tear drop shape. The others are just trying to introduce gentle slopes so they don’t infringe the patent.
yep, the newest Mr KIpling trailers are DonBur double deckers, and they are 16ft 3inch. gotta be careful.
We have teardrop trailers (don bur),and yes they make a massive difference because the rear door is quite low we no longer have pallets stacked 7ft high
lankyphil:
So these teardrop shaped trailers that are supposed to cut fuel use,Do they actually make much difference?
Yep,they may,but for that you need to put more trailer on the Road which cost at last more as if you would run with conventional Trailers