Transtex’s Edge TopKit+, aerodynamic side and top rear fairings, paired with the company’s Edge Flap aerodynamic mud flaps, has been pre-approved to meet California Air Resources Board emissions standards for 2021 to 2023 model year heavy-duty trailers.
The TopKit+ redirects air toward the rear of the trailer to reduce drag on dry vans, reefers and straight trucks with swing or rollup doors. In a fuel economy test last year, Mesilia Valley Transportation Solutions certified the TopKit+ system to save 4.44% of fuel on a Class 8 truck with a 53-foot dry van trailer, compared to the same tractor-trailer without the solution.
The TopKit+ is the only rear aerodynamic device to meet CARB’s Greenhouse Gas Phase 2 Bin III pre-approval, Todd McGuire, Transtex’s vice president of sales, said during a presentation to industry press on Sept. 12 at ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council Fall Meeting.
The TopKit+ is a completely re-designed version of a the TopKit product Transtex acquired from Greenville, South Carolina-based trailer aerodynamic system supplier SmartTruck in April 2019.
In 2017, HDT named the TopKit product from SmartTruck a Top 20 Product of the year.
The side and top fairings are made from recyclable thermoplastic polyolen, and are designed to withstand all weather conditions, Transtex officials said.
