Ah , the sprightliness of a prospicient - haul trucker – there ’s nothing like it . It ’s just you and the opened road : The casual crackle of theradiocuts through the quiet Harkat ul-Mujahedeen of the highway as it passes beneath your wheels . It ’s a life of freedom ; truckers get to dine out every daylight and see the reality from its scenic byway .
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trucker may experience a liberal life , but they ’re also part of a major industriousness – and a vital one at that . Transportation is linked to every face of the global economy . Everything from the clothes you ’re wearing to thefoodin your refrigerator likely spent some prison term aboard a semi between the time the item was made and the fourth dimension it was buy .
Since trucking ’s a concern , truck bank line owners have to keep their profits high and their overhead low gear . And perhaps no other factor in the trucking business takes as big a insect bite out of truckers ' earnings asgas prices : When fuel costs rise , hauling profits decrease . In Europe in May 2008 , diesel engine fuel top $ 11 per gal , 40 percentage more than the previous class [ generator : prison term ] . Independent trucker and small turnout were in peril of bankruptcy from the high Mary Leontyne Price , and as a outcome , truckers across Spain , Portugal and other contribution of Europe staged strikes .
These rap had a ripple effect throughout the economies of the mutually beneficial westerly European nations . machine manufacturer close plant since they had no division with which to build cars . market store ledge run dry as food provision dwindle down [ source : AP ] . Truckers showed how integral their use is in keeping economies thriving by efficaciously crippling the economies for a five - day period in the natural spring of 2008 .
While governments are seek way to depress the cost ofgas , there ’s at least one person looking at the trouble from a different angle . rather of set about to diminish fuel prices , why not just make semis that consume less fuel ?
So who ’s looking to reinvent the 18 - bicyclist ? Find out on the next pageboy .
Luigi Colani and the 18-wheeler of the Future
The last timegasprices were as gamey as in 2008 was the early 1970s . The OPEC Oil Embargo have gas prices to skyrocket in the United States . It was then that German designer Luigi Colani first considered making a more sleek motortruck that use less throttle . When gas monetary value soar again in 2008 , Colani ’s idea began to seem attractive once more . Fortunately , he ’d been tinkering with his intent , meliorate them in the course of the well-nigh 40 year that passed .
Colani creates what he callsbiodynamic concepts[source : BusinessWeek ] . He borrows heavily from the contours and rounded angles found in nature for everything from chair to shower . He view himself a " three - dimensional philosopher of the future , " and he ’s create the concept to back up such a claim [ source : New York Times ] . This include his concepts for 18 - wheeler .
In the side of mellow gas prices and the resulting driving forbidding , Colani turned his aid toward creating more fuel - efficient motortruck . His first versions reduce fuel consumption by 25 percent [ root : BusinessWeek ] .
How does one take something as lumbering as a semi and make it green ? For starters , Colani utilise his organic - minded design to the outside , make his trailer truck more streamlined . With their wide-cut , insipid grilles and boxy shapes , semis are among the least aerodynamic vehicle on the road . Once a motortruck reaches a speed of 50 miles per hour , flowing drag– the pressure exerted on the vehicle as it moves through zephyr – there ’s an increased motivation for power to keep the hand truck moving at a unfaltering pace [ source : Cummins ] . Colani sum up sweeping contours and lines to his semi designs , give them a futurist look and reducing wind - resistance .
He also beget under the hood to muck around with theengine . He meliorate upon a 2005 Mercedes - Benz semi by adding a direct - injectant , turbo - charge diesel engine engine to the fomite . The outcome ? It had almost 150 more horsepower than the original locomotive and consumed 30 percent less fuel [ source : Discovery ] .
Still , he remain unsatisfied . In 2007 , Colani and Siemens collaborated on a fresh truck . This semi is perhaps more fitly referred to as a cockpit : The enclosed space is enkindle above the semi ’s form and make one person . What ’s more , the truck miss a direction cycle – it ’s drive entirely with a single joystick . The whole semi resembles the school principal and beak of a predatory bird in escape . With this avatar , Colani ’s design managed to reduce fuel intake by 50 percentage [ origin : Discovery ] . That reduction come exclusively from exterior streamlined changes , without any modifications to the engine .
So why do n’t we see Colani ’s designs in use by truck driver on roads around the globe ? Perhaps the with child obstacle is price . Colani ’s Siemens concept truck cost $ 1 million to construct . Mass - produced trucks are slightly less expensive . For instance , a new 2007 International 9900 semi sells for around $ 100,000 [ reservoir : Commercial Truck Trader ] . Getting that price down to a marketable toll will require a major semi manufacturer to mess - produce the truck . While Colani is an self-governing clothes designer , this would n’t be the first clip one of his concepts was embraced by a car company . His design have been built by the the like of Ferrari and Dodge . Perhaps with fuel price getting higher and teamster impinge on , a name like Peterbilt or Mack will be added to that leaning in the future .
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