Fleets Can Save Significant Money In Fuel Costs By Installing Mud Flaps

By Author: Lisa Murray
Total Articles: 5
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Fuel is a gigantic expense for companies that run trucking fleets. While most complain about the high cost of fuel today, they don’t realize the significant amount of money they could save by installing a new version of the traditional mud flap.

These flaps are sometimes referred to as “open flaps,” because they are designed to let air flow through them rather than acting as air blocks, which causes much more fuel consumption as engines on big trucks have to work harder against the wind.

When a fleet switches over to these open-style flaps, it derives immediate financial benefits. Why? Because with open mud flaps, up to 80% of wind resistance is cut out. This is important because when a truck is traveling at more than 60 miles an hour, as much as 65% of the diesel fuel it uses is going to go toward getting through the wind.

With open flaps installed, trucking fleets realize an approximate five percent savings in fuel costs for straight trucks and up to eight percent when the flaps are in operation on Class 8 trucks. And in either type of truck, the fuel cost ...
... savings goes higher when the truck is driving in strong cross winds. These open style mud flaps clearly begin saving money from the moment they’re installed.

In terms of fuel, the flaps save about 650 gallons per truck each year, which is like the trucking company getting two weeks’ worth of free diesel fuel every year for every truck that has these mud flaps installed on it.

Another area in which a trucking fleet will save money with open flaps is in clock time. Because trucks require less fuel, that means less time spent by drivers exiting highways and sitting idle at the pumps while their trucks’ tanks are filled.

With less power required to move trucks with open-style flaps, there is an additional benefit to the environment, something all trucking firms are interested in. In tests, it has been shown that trucks using these open flaps emit between six and eight tons less CO2 into the air per year.

As to the concern that open mud flaps won’t perform the job that flaps were originally designed to do, the ingenious design of the open-style flaps makes them just as efficient as traditional flaps at deflecting water and road debris.

In summary, open-style flaps save trucking fleets significant money on fuel because they allow as much as 80 percent of wind to travel through the flap, dramatically decreasing wind resistance. They also save drivers time and create less CO2 emissions from truck engines.

Lisa Murray is a freelance writer interested in Fleet Fuel Saver, a seller of Eco-flaps, which are open-style mud flaps used by trucking fleets throughout the United States. You can get more information about Fleet Fuel Saver and its products at FleetFuelSaver.com.