How come with all the looking people look into to save money on fuel why have they not streamlined trucks?

[Daniela1982]

If you look at a semi truck it is just a trailer that wind hits to produce drag, and A/C units on the front of the trailer produces even more. The truck tractor themselves look like a flat faced cracker box. There are no fairings to streamline the air flow under a truck either. Trucks pulling 2 trailers, known as doubles, and loaded with 80,000 pounds only get about 5 miles a gallon. So if the auto industry is required to improve mileage in cars and going electric, why not the trucking industry? After all, we pay at the store check stand for shipping costs so it seems like it would behoove the industry to seek more economical transport.

A 1948 White Stream Liner

[DaisyJones]

This is the car I have. (not this exact one)

People always ask me if it's electric. It's not. I paid around $17,500 for it.

The electric equivalent was around $35,000. I get almost 40 MPG with mine.

Do you know how many gas tanks I can buy for the extra $17,500?

I'm sure that a truck like this:

Would never pay for itself in terms of fuel mileage. The only way this type of truck would ever work, is if government just flat out subsidizes the cost, just like they do with renewable energy.

[Daniela1982]

Here they are raising the gas taxes again which will put gas at $6.00 a gallon, and California has probably the highest taxes in the nation.. I can get 13 mpg with my car if I drive it with care and restraint. But what fun is that? Big rigs put on 100,000 miles per year. If they even save a dollar a mile it equates to saving $100,000. But sadly you can't carry as much cargo in the stream lines trucks shown as boxes/pallets are square, not rounded so that is another minus for stream lining.

[DaisyJones]

Yes, we can Joe for fucking over gas prices for us.

Those truck designs you showed might be a million each. I don't know. In the long run it makes sense, but people just might not have the cash for that.

Also, I think we're about 15 years away from driver-less cargo trucks. That might be what makes those designs possible.

[DaisyJones]

Thanks for the MHO

[JuliaStyles]

Walmart, of all people, has come up with some Streamlined Semi Trucks that seem to have it down pat. It can still haul a normal boxy trailer and it is still stream lined.

[The_Maphio]

It takes some minimal knowledge of physics to understand that a streamlined design allows for inferior consumation of fuel. I don't see many of them living in trailers as the most educated people on the planet.
For the non-trailer living people, those special designs cost more, and they don't see the long term saving as much as they see the "in the moment" expenditure.
It all comes down to lack of smarts.

[KrakenAttackin]

There are actually quite a few duel saving innovations for tractor-trailers. There are fairings below and above the tractor, wheel caps, gal seals behind the tractor, air skirts below the trailer, some have "trailer tails", there are even GPS connected transmissions which optimize fuel efficiency for upcoming terrain.

[Daniela1982]

Yeah, I have no idea how effective they are. Probably like putting wings on a potato and trying to get it to fly.

[KrakenAttackin]

Supposedly the effects are measurable assuming the driver maintains a reasonable speed and has efficient driving habits. Drivers are often incentivised to save fuel.

[Daniela1982]

Most trucks for trucking companies have "Governors" on them to keep drivers from speeding and better economy. It governs their speed limit.

[OlderAndWiser]

There are air deflectors, air Dana, and other devices currently in use on semi tractors.

[Daniela1982]

A dam is something that holds back something, and in a truck's case the air instead of deflecting it aside. A lot of smaller trucks like driving behind a big rig to get out of turbulence and therefore save gas. The bigger truck acts as a wedge to get through the air.

[OlderAndWiser]

Air dam is on the front of the truck to reduce air turbulence (drag) below the truck.

[Daniela1982]

Have you ever passed a truck coming the other way and had your car buffeted by the huge mass of air it was pushing ahead of it.

[OlderAndWiser]

Yes, but that happens with or without air dam.

[Daniela1982]

True, it's mostly everything else, like big mirrors, A/C units at the top of the trailer, and air that turbulizes under the trailer and axles.

[Feelicks]

Daniella, you've found out why musk wants to build Hyperloops. Low or no air pressure would be great for moving freight, people whatever much more quickly and efficiently.

[Likes2drive]

I have fairings on my tractor for the front of the trailer to divert air flow and some of the trailers have fairings under it too, the tractors are mostly automatic with shift points for optimum fuel efficiency and do get around 8 miles to a gallon of diesel, there isn’t much else they can do but considering how much freight they move for that much per gallon it’s not too bad

[MysteriousDarkness]

Most things people bye comes on a pallet which is square so streamlining trucks would mean less product the truck would carry. It would cause the drive to make more than on trip to the same place or have more than one trucker going to the same place to get tge amount if product that one truck can get to a place now.

[Daniela1982]

Well they can always haul 3 trailers - triples - to increase shipping space. If they can just streamline the tractor as much as it can be they could haul regular trailers.

[MysteriousDarkness]

@daniela1982
Then backing it up to the dock to be unloaded should be easiy right.

[Daniela1982]

It just takes longer as they can only back up one at a time so disconnect the last two and then reconnect, etc.

[Redstang88]

Long haul trucks actually are very aerodynamic for what they are, and it is extensively researched for any improvements. Even a 5% reduction in fuel costs is huge for a trucking outfit

[Massageman]

If all the "environmentalists" who drive hundreds of miles to protest at this place or that, were to stay home and NOT use their cars, we'd save a lot, too.

[ohshee]

I am so glad when I see your questions you come up with some of the coolest stuff

[Sevenpointfive]

the prices are not too different when considering gas and i would think that for a truck that big the design hasn't been changed for a reason for a long time

[monkeynutts]

I I think you guys have had cheap fuel for along time, it’s not economically feasible anymore, so those prices look similar to ours. The trucks cool too.

[Daniela1982]

I fear it is only going to go up, not down.

[monkeynutts]

Our fuel prices have dropped and increased in the last 3 months from between $1.35- $1.60 per litre, if you times that by 3.8 you get what the cost would be per gallon. Fuel also varies in quality, depending where you get it, I think that’s because they can make more money at the bowser if adulterants are added, I’m not sure if that’s legal or what is really going on, but I don’t think anyone can do much about that.

[exitseven]

The trailers are usually stacked on container ships and it is hard to stack a round shape and wold be less efficient.

[Feelicks]

Because a rectangle maximizes interior volume. Also most semi cabs are aerodynamically optimized to some extent.

[007kingifrit]

have you seen the new tesla truck? its exactly what you are describing and big companies are ordering them already, we will see changes soon

[Daniela1982]

The problem is it only has a range of 500 miles which is fine for local deliveries but wouldn't do for long haul where they get paid by the mile.
https://youtu.be/Ael2nTAraXs

[007kingifrit]

yeah, we need more charging stations

[Daniela1982]

But truck diver's don't make money , nor the trucking firm, if they have to recharge every 500 miles as it is not like stopping to fill up with diesel fuel.

[TheSpaceGnome]

upgrade costs and shipping storage capacity being reduced.

[888theGreat]

my truck gets 5 mpg but is all steel.

[anylolone]

Repairs. The cost of repairs.

[COMMODOREII]

Very good question