That could be helpful in reducing jackknife accidents, which tend to occur when a truck returns lighter after unloading its cargo. Plus, quick bursts of air on one side of a truck could counteract a gust of wind on the opposite side that often makes handling difficult. The U.S. Department of Energy funds Englar's research and is eager to move from scale models to a full-sized prototype truck. Trucking companies have already taken steps to improve the aerodynamics of the front of tractors and many of their trailers as well. Adding skirting and airfoils called fairings cuts fuel costs 17 percent, according to Alfred Gordon, safety director with Cocke Brothers Transportation in Savannah.
Many trailers have plastic cones added in front to slice through the air above the truck cab.
The rear end, though, has remained pretty uniform, mostly to fit the standard dimensions of loading docks. ''I can tell you, yes, with absolute certainty, that if there was a trailer that is round instead of square on the top and the bottom, it would save fuel, and it would make it travel straight,'' Gordon said. Some practical considerations remain, though, such as how to open the cargo doors with the curves Englar is proposing. Hinges run along the edges he wants to put curves on. And the material the curves are made of will have to be durable enough to withstand striking loading docks and yet compact enough to fit in the restricted truck bays at some buildings. Englar admits he has to solve all those problems as well, which is one reason his innovations aren't already on every trailer today.