Trucks of Tomorrow

Side skirts exactly what Airdrie trucker seeking

Greg Decker can tell you precisely the mileage he's received from every tank of diesel he's filled his truck with over the past eight years. So it's no surprise he can instantly rattle off the fuel savings he's realized since installing side skirts on the trailer of his rig - 8.94 per cent, to be exact.

"A very small percentage of truck owners track their fuel use this closely," says Decker, whose Airdrie-based Triple Decker Transport consists of a single truck and trailer. "But because I do, I know these fuel-efficiency measures do pay off."

Decker and his partner and wife, Dannelle, are big believers in lightening their truck's impact on the environment... and their wallet. "Five dollar (a gallon) diesel does wonders to get your attention," says Decker, whose fuel bill reached $100,000 in 2007, when prices soared.

Triple Decker has since invested some $50,000 in improvements such as side skirts, low-rolling-resistance tires, Airtab vortex generators (reducing wind resistance and aerodynamic drag) and fuel-saving Eco mud flaps. It all adds up to a nearly 13-per-cent improvement in fuel economy since the Deckers bought their current Volvo truck in 2008.

Last year, they spent some $5,000 installing Windyne side skirts on their trailer. With the savings to date, Greg figures the purchase price will be recouped in 13 months, with some $39,000 in total fuel savings over the 10-year life of the skirts.

Triple Decker hauls freight for Calgary-based Caneda Transport from western Canada to the midwest, southern and eastern United States, travelling at highway speeds of predominantly 100 kph. The company is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay partner (http://www.epa.gov/smartwaylogistics/index.htm), with a top fuel efficiency/environmental performance score of 1.25.

While Decker believes "one in a million" truck operators currently takes fuel economy as seriously as he does, he thinks it makes too much economic and environmental sense for small operators and large fleets not to.

"The North American fleet is four million trucks, 25 per cent of which are long-haul operators," he says. "That fleet could save two billion gallons of fuel a year by increasing its fuel mileage by eight to nine per cent."