Aluminum fabricator Alcoa has launched a new series of wide base that wheels are the lightest 14″ aluminum wheels on the market.
The new 58 lbs wheels are engineered for high performance through Alcoa’s proprietary LvL ONE wheel manufacturing process of light weighting.
By switching from single steel 22.5″ x 8.25″ wheels to Alcoa 14″ wide base wheels, the weight of an 18-wheeler can be reduced by nearly 1,400 lbs. cutting annual fuel costs, Alcoa says.
In other haulage news, Cox Transportation Services, a Virginia-based freight transportation firm, has equipped its fleet with Solus Split Skirts. Solus says the skirts can cut fuel consumption by 5 percent.
Cox is currently evaluating the Solus Wheel Cavity Cover for fleet-wide adoption. The Cover delivers additional fuel savings of 1.3 percent, Solus says.
Environmental Leader’s recent Insights report covers sustainable ground freight. It lists installing wide or low-rolling resistance tires and making aerodynamic improvements as good strategies for improving a truck’s efficiency.
