Technology

Making a SuperTruck: So that's how they did it

Sept. 19, 2016

From mirrors replaced with cameras to hidden sidesteps and hinged trailer skirts, here's a closer look in, under and around the Volvo SuperTruck and the technologies built into it from the truck's unveiling Tuesday morning, Sept. 13.

Aaron Marsh

"Sleek-looking truck," you might think if you'd walked up to Volvo Trucks' SuperTruck last week in DC, "but where are the mirrors? How do you get to the trailer tires?"

Well, they cut typical side mirrors and went with cameras right above the doors instead, for one thing, and there are long, rectangular view panels inside the cab at both sides of the windshield displaying a live view from those cameras. So once you're in the driver's seat, it feels like they just moved the mirrors inside.

That's good for about a 1% reduction in aerodynamic drag, and also helps smooth the airflow down the side of the tractor and trailer, according to Volvo engineers. Those are the kinds of things you have to think about when you're designing a heavy truck that can pull 65,000 lbs. on a highway and reach 13 mpg doing it — check through our slideshow for more tech solutions the Volvo team came up with.

Here's a closer look in, under and around the Volvo SuperTruck and the technologies built into it from the truck's unveiling Tuesday morning, Sept. 13.

In-depth: Read more about the Volvo SuperTruck — and what the company is doing now as its team gets started on the next chapter, SuperTruck II — in Fleet Owner's experience at the unveiling event here.

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He wrote about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined FleetOwner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he was a keeper of knowledge at FleetOwner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all-around trucking—and still turned a wrench or two. Or three.

Aaron previously wrote for FleetOwner.