Patent ID: 7578541

Claim:
A skirt panel for interconnection to another similar skirt panel for attachment beneath a lower, outer longitudinally-extending edge of tractor-trailer rig including not only a front wheel bogey and a rear wheel assembly, thereby to provide s continuous fairing extending downwardly from said tractor-trailer rig, each said skirt panel comprising: a monolithic, generally-rectangular composite reinforced thermoplastic structure; a first reinforcing structure comprising s reinforcing and connecting truss structure, said first reinforcing structure being operatively associated with an exterior facing edge of said skirt panel, and including outwardly extending connecting points; a second reinforcing structure comprising lateral edge vertical reinforcing trusses, said reinforcing and connecting trusses having connection points to enable abutting similar skirt panels to be rigidly connected to one another; a top edge, said top edge including a cap structural members for rigidly securing said skirt panel to said tractor-trailer rig; a lower edge; a front face of said monolithic, generally-rectangular composite reinforced thermoplastic structure being provided with a plurality of longitudinally-extending, vertically-spaced-apart arcuate protrusions; and an exterior face of said skirt panel, which includes said reinforcing and connecting trusses and said connection points, also including a plurality of horizontal arcuate protrusions; whereby, when said fairing is secured to a lower portion of said trailer said fairing extends downwardly from said tractor-trailer rig to from 60% to 80% of distance to the road, so that a portion of any impinging air is directed laterally around said wheels of said rear wheel bogeys to reduce the aerodynamic drag of said trailer and of said wheel assembly.