REDUCING U.S. IMPORT OIL DEPENDENCE BY ONE BILLION GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL PER YEAR

UNITED STATES SEMI-TRAILER VANS EXPEND OVER 10,000,000,000 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL PER YEAR MOVING AIR AROUND THE VEHICLES. THIS NEEDLESS WASTE OF FUEL INCREASES OUR IMPORT OIL DEPENDENCY, AS WELL AS ADDS NEEDLESS DIESEL EXHAUST CARCINOGENS INTO OUR ATMOSPHERE. RECENTLY, CONGRESS HAS ENACTED LEGISLATION WHICH PERMITS TRACTOR/SEMI-TRAILER LENGTH LIMITS TO BE EXCEEDED IF THE PURPOSE IS TO IMPROVE FUEL EFFICIENCY OF THE VEHICLE. THE FOLLOWING PROPOSAL REQUESTS SUPPORT TO DEMONSTRATE THAT A RATHER SIMPLE DEVICE AFFIXED TO THE BACK OF A SEMI-TRAILER VAN BODY CAN REDUCE THE AERODYNAMIC DRAG OF THE VEHICLE BY 10%, AND RESULT IN A NATIONWIDE YEARLY SAVINGS OF DIESEL FUEL IN EXCESS OF 1,000,000,000 GALLONS. THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF THIS RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP AND MARKET AN INEXPENSIVE, EASILY DEPLOYED AND RUGGED DEVICE TO BE RETROFITTED TO THE UNITED STATES VAN FLEET, AND THEREBY REALIZE THE ABOVE FUEL SAVINGS.