Trucks are essential for transportation and economics. On the other hand the fuel consumption of trucks especially heavy trucks has not been reduced as strong as compared to passenger cars in the last decades.
One reason for the high fuel consumption of trucks is given by their edged design, which causes a high aerodynamic drag. Especially at the back of the truck trailer a lot of turbulence is generated at higher speeds. To reduce the turbulences and therefore to decrease the fuel consumption a rear airbag is proposed for truck trailers.
The airbag can be stored in a rolled form under the trailers end. When the truck will start for a longer distance this airbag can be rolled out and hooked at for e.g. 4 points on the trailers end and finally blown up by pumping air into the bag.
To avoid hiding the taillights of the trailer by the airbag, the lights can be pulled out. Further these lights can illuminate the airbag in the night, so the rear parts of the trucks can be better seen in the dark.
Another advantage of the airbag is its safety issue. Truck crashes end often tragic because many trucks don’t have deformable zones, as it is the case for the shown truck here. The airbag exhibits a crush zone for the following truck i.e. truck driver.