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Body talk
Page 41
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We're focusing aerodynamics on suburban delivery vehicles. To determine if this is a viable fuel-saving measure, we compare a sloping roof box on a rigid with a standard box body. Here's what we found...
Words: Roanna Avison & Kevin Swallow Images: Tom Cunningham
Aerodynamic aids split opinions like Marmite and Russell Brand, yet independent tests carried out by CM revealed that aerodynamics, in one form or another, will provide you with tangible cash savings at the pumps.
We have seen clear differences with slipstream-friendly trailer designs such as Cartwrights' Cheetah system (The cat comes back' CM 24 July 2008), STAS's TPX tipper CA tapered effect' CM 16 Octobr 2008), and Don-Bur's Teardrop ('Teardrop exposed' CM 10 July 2008), so the debate over designs that cut payload, thus reducing productivity, is a well-trodden pathway.
Opinion is divided
Arguments for aerodynamic designs on rigid vehicles are also split down the middle: fuel saving versus less payload. Recent 7.5-tonne CM road tests [MAN TGL7150, 11 September 2008 and DAF LF45, 31 July 20081 of trucks with air management kits, side-skirts, and rounded corner posts have produced strong fuel returns.
Yet, operators often cite potential panel damage on a super slippery rigid, a vehicle more likely to have a quicker and higher turnover of drivers, as well as extra costs to fix it.
Transport managers tend to stick to tried and tested methods of reducing the fuel bill by bunkering, cutting down engine idling, decreasing the stop/start count in urban environments, lowering lost mileage with the use of sat-nay systems, and maximising payload with volume and GVW. If you can pull all that off and improve aerodynamics, your accountant can only be pleased. •