FlowBelow Aero Inc., a manufacturer of tractor-mounted aerodynamic products, announced a new ‘quick-release’ fairing option for the company’s flagship fuel-saving Tractor AeroKit system.
With this new feature, fleets that may have been resistant to using drive wheel fairings on their trucks for accessibility reasons now have a solution, the company says. The quick-release mounting system allows the driver of the truck to remove the fairings in seconds and without tools when installing tire chains, for example.
FlowBelow has built a reputation for incorporating driver and mechanic feedback into the design of its products, the company says. This was first evident in 2012 when FlowBelow launched its patented quick-release wheel covers, which allowed the wheel covers to be removed and reinstalled for inspection or maintenance in less than three seconds without any tools. FlowBelow’s wheel cover design is now the most widely used aerodynamic wheel cover by major trucking fleets and truck manufacturers.
The Tractor AeroKit maximizes the aerodynamic performance of the company’s wheel covers by also controlling the airflow between the wheels and behind the wheels. Based on SAE fuel economy testing, the fairings have demonstrated a significant fuel savings of 2.23% in combination with wheel covers, which is over three times the fuel savings of wheel covers alone.
FlowBelow’s CEO and Founder, Josh Butler, explains that taking a system approach, addressing the driver and mechanic concerns, and offering greater fuel savings has been the key to their success.
“With the exception of the Freightliner Cascadia with Aero package, which comes standard with our wheel covers, over 80 percent of our customers utilize the complete AeroKit as opposed to wheel covers alone.," Butler said. "Most fleets cannot even measure the fuel savings of wheel covers by themselves. By enhancing our AeroKit with quick-release fairings we are targeting customers that desperately want achieve the maximum fuel savings possible without creating extra work for their mechanics and drivers.”
The Quick-Release Tractor AeroKit will be on display at FlowBelow booth No. 2648 at the NACV show from September 25-28, 2017. Additionally, FlowBelow’s products will be featured on NACV show trucks in the Freightliner booth, Kenworth and Peterbilt dealer booths, International Truck booth, and the Mack booth.
