Western Railroad Discussion > UPS new 53' Containers and Dry boxes

The new 53' containers and dry boxes are arriving on property.
Both pictures taken at the UPS Cerritos,Ca.hub on 07/23/2011.

Steve P.

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Does anyone in the group know what the fuel savings advantage is with the new "air foils" on the bottoms of trailers?
What is the material they are made of?

Thanks,

Jim Wilson

jtwlunch Wrote:
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> Does anyone in the group know what the fuel
> savings advantage is with the new "air foils" on
> the bottoms of trailers?
> What is the material they are made of?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jim Wilson


Those side skirts really seem to be catching on industry wide.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/11 11:43 by winchester.

If there are high winds, is it necessary to issue a skirt alert? :-D

TTownTrains

Dont know the material used, but its my understanding that somehow the state of california requires them on new trailers that are used in the state.

winchester Wrote:
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> jtwlunch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Does anyone in the group know what the fuel
> > savings advantage is with the new "air foils"
> on
> > the bottoms of trailers?
> > What is the material they are made of?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jim Wilson
>
>
> Those side skirts really seem to be cathing on
> indutry wide.

A friend of mine who works for Freightliner in Portland says the fuel savings is 2,3,or 4%. craig

Too bad those UPSU containers do not have a UPS logo on them.

jtwlunch Wrote:
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> Does anyone in the group know what the fuel
> savings advantage is with the new "air foils" on
> the bottoms of trailers?
> What is the material they are made of?

According to www.truckinginfo.com, there is a 8.94% fuel savings by using this side skirts. Other websites claim between 7% and 9% savings...so a median savings in the 8% rate is really good for just a pair of skirts. Large jets found similar savings by installing those winglets on the wingtips.

By looking at several skirt manufacturers, the norm seems to be either aluminum or fiberglass. Aluminum is more expensive but recommended if truck does a lot of gravel road driving.

Most skirts are a heavy plastic or fiberglass. As for fuel savings, its minimal. I saw about 2%. I hauled one of our trailers a few weeks ago. I saw really no difference. But it does add to the weight to the truck. I was about 150lbs heavier on my empty weight, I have a refer trailer. Normally 35,500lbs fully fueled when empty. I was 35,650lbs with the skirt trailer. On another note of these, its just something else to potentially fall off and cause a serious accident. Also increases the surface area when hit with a strong side wind and push the truck around more. I have heard from several drivers that these skirts do increase the chances of being blown over in high winds, when empty.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/11 17:59 by MRL.

"The company says UnderTray can improve fuel efficiency in a semi-trailer by as much as 12%."
Here is a link to the full article in the June 2 2011 edition of The Economist
http://www.economist.com/node/18750566

qnyla Wrote:
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> Too bad those UPSU containers do not have a UPS
> logo on them.

... and they're white.

- Jeff

Wonder if UP will let them ride stacked, or just BNSF?

Bruce

AfroRon Wrote:
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> Dont know the material used, but its my
> understanding that somehow the state of california
> requires them on new trailers that are used in the
> state.

<snip>
What the state of California says is all 53' vans must have skirts by 2013

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR

All sounds good if the skirted trailer is running forward, but what if it's positioned backward on a flat car? Now it's scooping up air, trapping it, and creating drag, no? Also curious how it affects rain spray at highway speeds.

MRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Most skirts are a heavy plastic or fiberglass. As
> for fuel savings, its minimal. I saw about 2%. I
> hauled one of our trailers a few weeks ago. I saw
> really no difference. But it does add to the
> weight to the truck. I was about 150lbs heavier on
> my empty weight, I have a refer trailer. Normally
> 35,500lbs fully fueled when empty. I was 35,650lbs
> with the skirt trailer. On another note of these,
> its just something else to potentially fall off
> and cause a serious accident. Also increases the
> surface area when hit with a strong side wind and
> push the truck around more. I have heard from
> several drivers that these skirts do increase the
> chances of being blown over in high winds, when
> empty.
>
> Posted from Android


One more thing to fix! I watched a guy rip one up pulling out of a parking lot last month. If they saved that much fuel, California would not need to mandate them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/11 06:47 by NYSWSD70M.

BruceDGillings Wrote:
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> Wonder if UP will let them ride stacked, or just
> BNSF?
>
> Bruce


Yes, UP will definitely allow them stacked, that is the reason for using more containers.
UP does not stack many J B Hunt boxes, and that I believe is because J B Hunt has a different
pin lock or whatever they are called on the top of container and UP does not have the equipment on some of their cranes to pick up the top box. Hunt containers have a sign on the container about the unique Hunt pin lock or whatever.

Also, note the new UPS 53ft trailers are all speced for rail intermodal. UPS will still be using trailers on train, but more containers in the high volume lanes.

Trailers on flatcar are not going away. Note the many refrigerated truckers that now use rail intermodal.
Marten,FFE, Stevens, England all have increased their trailer service.
In Memphis, Prime Trucking has started running a growing volume of reefer trailers on NS intermodal.

gmojim

Fizzboy7 Wrote:
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> All sounds good if the skirted trailer is running
> forward, but what if it's positioned backward on a
> flat car? Now it's scooping up air, trapping
> it, and creating drag, no? Also curious how it
> affects rain spray at highway speeds.


Very good point,

gmojim

gmojim Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fizzboy7 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> All sounds good if the skirted trailer is
> running forward, but what if it's positioned backward on
> a flat car? Now it's scooping up air, trapping
> it, and creating drag, no? Also curious how
> it affects rain spray at highway speeds.

Agreed on the backward positioning. Wondered about that very point on a long drive by auto across Kansas last week, where I saw a lot of the skirted trailers on I-70, and had noticed a few earlier in the day on a Z-train leaving Kansas City. As to wet roadway spray, I couldn't see any perceptible difference from an unskirted trailer that had a good set of flaps. I followed a skirted trailer, directly behind, through a long no-passing 2-lane construction zone on I-70 near Ellsworth, Kansas, during which it rained very hard through the entire construction zone. Best as I could tell, the sprayback was about the same as from an unskirted trailer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/11 19:52 by ironmtn.

Not the greatest shot but here's a pup with the skirting.
Pic was taken at a CPU in Monsey, NY.

Of note, this is not a new trailer. It was built in 2005.

rfprr



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/11 06:28 by rfprr.

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