Laws, technology & fleets prompt changes in dry vans

Charles Fetz, vice president of design and development for Great Dane Trailers, doesn’t believe that regulations in general drive trailer design to a major degree, but they do make design more challenging for manufacturers, he said.

“Without a trailer, a tractor is meaningless. A trailer, the argument could be made, is the piece of equipment that actually brings revenue in for a fleet. While it’s easy to dismiss a dry van as simply a ‘box on wheels,’ the reality of trailer design is a never-ending series of compromises between cargo space and unit weight.”

That’s how Jack Roberts, executive editor at Commercial Carrier Journal, a sister publication to Truckers News, begins an examination of the changing face of trailers titled, Reshaping the dry van: New laws, new tech and pressure from fleets guiding trailer’ future.

Roberts continues:

“Today, as savvy fleet managers understand that any money saved in fuel costs adds to their bottom line, new aerodynamic aspects are being added to the trailer design mix. Also, new technologies – such as telematics, GPS tracking and real-time logistics information – are pushing trailer OEMs to reevaluate longstanding designs and look at how trailers will be used in the future in a new light.”

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