WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED

Today, every truck operator wants to know: "How much fuel can you save me?".  The level of fuel savings that can be expected from a regularly serviced and well driven truck will depend on the type of work that it does and its routes.

Over the years, Ecotek has worked closely with numerous leading operators, many of which use very sophisticated systems to check and monitor fuel consumption.

Ecotek knows from the figures produced by these companies that fuel savings range from 3 to 8 per cent for tractor units, from 5 to 12 per cent for 3.5 tonne box vans and from 8 to 15 per cent for 7.5 / 17 tonne trucks.

These are supported by properly documented figures achieved in everyday operating conditions and they stand up to close comparison with the returns produced by leading truck magazine road tests.

Fitting a full Ecotek air management system will save significant amounts of fuel but these savings can be improved by attention to driver training and vehicle maintenance.

PERFORMANCE

Drag reduction is the key to improving fuel efficiency.  The way to reduce drag is to eliminate hard corners, projections and anything else that will impair the flow of attached air - and thus create turbulence - around the cab and the bodywork of the truck.

Air resistance, or drag, increases sharply as a vehicles speed rises as does the gross engine horsepower required to overcome that increase in drag.

The biggest reductions in drag can be made by fitting a correctly-designed 3D cab roof fairing, followed by cab side wings and then an under-bumper airdam and side skirts on the body.

It is vital that all these components are designed correctly and matched to the characteristics of the truck and bodywork.

Diagram of drag and resistance