DALLAS, TX. Trailer aerodynamic device manufacturer SmartTruck introduced its new “TopKit” system for dry-van and refrigerated trailers here at the Great American Truck Show this week.
The TopKit system consists of one of the company’s Aero Rain Guard components that runs along the trailer’s top-rear edge combined with two side-fairing devices mounted on the side-rear edges of the trailer. Steve Ingham – newly-installed CEO at SmartTruck – said the “TopKit” package weighs just 72 pounds and can help deliver up to a 5.5% improvement in fuel economy.
Priced at $999, the “TopKit” package takes about an hour and a half to install and works with trailers equipped with either swing or roll-up doors, Ingham noted.
The TopKit system is a stand-alone EPA SmartWay certified solution, he added, but it can also function as a complementary component with other SmartTruck trailer aerodynamic packages as well, such as its Undertray device (seen at right).
“My vision for SmartTruck is to operate in the ‘performance band’ above just providing devices that comply with regulatory mandates,” Ingham emphasized. “Compliance is just being additive to the trailer; we are more focused of providing more performance benefits in terms of fuel savings.”
He also said SmartTruck plans to conduct a “broad array” of testing in September on both its own and competitive trailer aerodynamic devices as well to better gauge the fuel savings potential of such trailer-based products.
