Project Description
BMI Corporation is working on a project called SmartTruck. The purpose of this venture is to greatly
reduce the fuel dependency of class 8 trucks (18 wheelers). To accomplish this, BMI is using advanced
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to improve the overall aerodynamics of the truck and trailer. Initially
parts are being designed as add on or replacements to what is already on the road. This will allow the
current fleets to improve their fuel mileage across all of their vehicles. In conjunction with this, a
completely new tractor and trailer design is underway. BMI’s goal with the new design is to improve fuel
efficiency by close to 50%.
Bringing fuel savings to the trucking industry will have several important impacts. Each SmartTruck
running on the road would save about 75 tons of CO2 annually as compared to a standard class 8 truck.
In addition to the impact this has on our nation as a whole, it also will help out the fleets directly. The
fuel savings alone will pay for SmartTruck products in less than two years. After that, fleets will be saving
money with every mile driven. See Table 1 for the overall impact of each Phase of the SmartTruck
project.
Allocation History
| Source | Hours | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| OLCF DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY PROGRAM | 2,429,299 | 2012-01-01 | 2012-03-31 |
| OLCF DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY - INDUSTRY | 0 | 2011-01-01 | 2011-12-31 |
| OLCF DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY - INDUSTRY | 2,695,917 | 2011-01-01 | 2011-12-31 |
| OLCF DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY - INDUSTRY | 500,000 | 2010-01-01 | 2010-12-31 |
| OLCF DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY - INDUSTRY | 4,000,000 | 2010-01-01 | 2010-12-31 |
| OLCF DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY - INDUSTRY | 500,000 | 2009-07-24 | 2009-12-31 |
