SAN FRANCISCO -- Robert Heath Trucking Inc. and ATDynamics, Inc. have launched the first refrigerated fleet in the United States all with fuel-saving aerodynamic trailer tails developed at Clarkson University.

Also known by aerodynamicists as boat tails, the devices have led to a 6.6 percent fuel savings at highway speed according to SAE J1321 testing, and will exceed fuel economy standards announced by President Obama recently.

“While TrailerTails are in use by refrigerated carriers across the country, Robert Heath Trucking has moved further,” said Andrew Smith, CEO and Founder of ATDynamics,

“By September, Robert Heath will become the first refrigerated carrier in the history of North American long-haul trucking to operate an entire fleet of trailers with tails. The company is setting a new precedent for shippers of temperature controlled products.”

The company pulls over 300 temperature controlled semi-trailers serving Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California as well as other regional markets across the United States.

Clarkson University teamed with ATDynamics in San Francisco to work towards a viable commercial product of the open cavity design that has become Trailer Tails. Testing was done with LaValle Transport Inc. of Potsdam.

Heath says TrailerTails reduce the low pressure suction drag behind the large rear flat surface of trailers. Robert Heath has already addressed the aerodynamic drag underneath their trailers with aerodynamic trailer skirting.

“By reducing the aerodynamic drag behind our trailers, we offer our customers a more environmentally sound way to move their cargo and reduce US oil dependency,” said Jody Heath, President of Robert Heath Trucking.

TrailerTails extend four feet from the rear of the trailers to improve the aerodynamic profile of the trailer when traveling at highway speeds. The tails collapse automatically out of the way to provide unhindered access to the rear cargo doors of the trailers when loading or unloading freight.

Each TrailerTail installed on an average refrigerated trailer will offset the oil used and carbon emitted of approximately two passenger vehicles on an annual basis.