At the 2019 North American Commercial Vehicle Show, Rocketail announced their new Contact Response Hinge. Rocketail LLC manufactures an aerodynamic system for reducing rear drag on modern semi-trailers. The system is comprised of three components: two Side Wings attached to the rear corner posts of dry vans and reefer trailers, and a Top Element attached at the top-rear of the trailer.
“After releasing our initial system in the early spring of 2019, which was designed with a fixed Wing hinge, we quickly realized that many carriers needed to close the Wings for various reasons, such as securing high value loads by backing trailers up to buildings and/or other parked trailers, or backing into certain docks lacking the necessary space required by the deployed Wings,” said Bren Marshell, vice president of sales for Rocketail. “Therefore, our engineering team designed a new dynamic hinge that immediately responds to any form of contact to the surface of the Wings. If you back into another trailer, dock door, or any other surface, the Wings simply collapse against the trailer. Then, when you pull away from the surface, they automatically re-deploy without any driver intervention”.
The Rocketail Wing System for semi-trailers is a verified EPA SmartWay trailer rear fairing technology that has exhibited a certified fuel efficiency improvement of over 3.58 U.S. gallons per 1,000 miles. Featuring an advanced aerodynamic wing design, the Rocketail Wing extends only 12" from the rear of the trailer, eliminating a main cause of rear collision damage. Fully integrated with the trailer door, the Rocketail Wings are always deployed using unique industrial-grade cable hinges that lock the Wings in their maximum aerodynamic open position each time the doors are closed. The system shifts the wings flush with the sides of the trailer each time the doors are opened, allowing the doors to swing a full 270 degrees without being blocked.
