May 5, 2008 - Researchers at Delft University of Technology have designed a new aerodynamic sideskirt for truck trailers that can help cut vehicle fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 15%.

Sideskirts are plates mounted onto the sides of trailers, primarily to protect vehicles' undersides. The aerodynamic design of the new sideskirt substantially reduces the air currents alongside and under the trailer and thereby also the air resistance, according to the Delft researchers.

Initial driving tests pegged cuts in fuel consumption at between 5% and 15%. Long-term tests indicate a fuel reduction closer to 10%.

"The next step is realizing a practical partnership between the government and industry in order to put the solutions into practice," says Michel van Tooren of TU Delft’s Aerospace Engineering faculty.

Testing is ongoing in the Netherlands.