March 2010-       
                              
 
(Meijer's Fleet Mgr. Dan Scherer standing next to Meijer's truck with Eco-flaps® at the 2010 MATS)

Andersen Flaps had a successful show this year at the 2010 MATS!
More and more owner operators and trucking companies are realising the benefits of Eco-flaps®.
The winner of our MATS $500 Cash Give-Away was Ms. Starlina Greene from Danville, IL.     VIEW OUR MATS 2010 PRESS RELEASE, CLICK HERE.


February 2010-

 
Andersen Flaps was there!


October 2009-

Andersen Flaps attends the 2009 ATA Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas - CEO of USXpress presents "Finding the Green While Going Green " which includes Eco-flaps - click here for PPT 





August 2009-

Andersen Flaps welcomes new food distributor customers - please read our Newsletter Volume 1, Number 1
Click Here


April 2009-

Landline Now reports testimonials coming in for eco-flaps®
Click OOIDA Logo



Ecoflaps® exhibited April 7th at the EcoExpo  
in Chattanooga, TN - click here


March 2009-

Andersen Flaps at the 09 MATS - click here


     Cohen Steel out of Concord, NH has been using Eco-flaps® on their
fleet for the past 8 months. They run straight trucks, for short distances -- less than 200 mile trips. They have picked up 2.5% to 3% improvement in fuel economy. Their typical loads are between 5,000 and 15,000 lbs. of steel being delivered to their customers.
     This confirms the type of fuel savings we can generate for Class 5, 6
and 7 truck operations. It opens up another whole market segment for
us to tap into. With our launch this week with the Nationalease guys, it couldn't be better timed.
     By the way, Cohen is using 30" Eco-flaps® to generate these savings on the straight trucks. They also confirmed that ice and snow in the
winter time were NO problem for the flaps, and that the fuel savings
were continuous through the winter months.

Brian Vires called late today for the Ryder Logistics group that has been running all of Toyota's parts using our flaps on their equipment since last summer.  He just published numbers for fuel economy comparing this January and February to Last January and February. This year they were running all four locations with Eco-flaps®, but last year they were using conventional flaps at this same time of year. Here are their fleetwide fuel economy numbers for comparison:

Jan. 2008 5.83 MPG
Jan. 2009 6.17 MPG (5.8% improvement)

Feb. 2008 5.91 MPG
Feb. 2009 6.28 MPG (6.26% improvement)

What's really interesting is to see how consistent the baseline and
the 2009 number changes are. They picked up about a tenth of a mile
per gallon last year moving from January to February, and the same
thing this year. There are no extraneous goofy fluctuations in these
numbers. The Eco-flaps® are essentially delivering 0.35 MPG
improvement in fuel economy, or 6% to this Ryder operation. In
addition, Toyota's volume has been down, but the fuel savings figures
are really consistent even on lower overall miles in 2009!


February 2009-

Eco-flaps® at the 09 TMC Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition and article in Transport Topics Magazine - week of Feb 23, 2009 - click here


December  2008-
Update for the Year:

Letter to Paul Abelson:

Happy Holidays! You were gracious enough to write a couple of articles earlier this year about Andersen Flaps' Eco-flaps® and their fuel saving potential. I thought it would be appropriate to update you at year end with some of our achievements this year, and some of the simple lessons learned from the hundreds of road trials we have performed with various fleets and differing Class 8 equipment.

In 2008 we have about 260 million miles logged by about 50 current fleet customers with Eco-flaps®. Everyone who is using the new flaps is so thrilled with their fuel savings, that to a customer, they come back to us to get Eco-flaps® for all their new Class 8 trucks and trailers. They know the value of the fuel savings, even in a market that currently has diesel priced below $2 per gallon. None of our customers are saving less than 0.2 MPG with the flaps, and many are saving 0.4 to 0.5 MPG. Their experience hinges on the number of highway miles they cover with their fleet, and what portion of their overall miles are represented by these highway miles.

Overall, we are demonstrating a savings of slightly more than 1/2 gallon per 100 highway miles with the Eco-flaps® on standard Class 8 equipment. 

Along the way, some of the general lessons we have learned regarding wind drag and the undercarriage of Class 8 trailers includes:

- DON'T hang those trailer flaps at the ICC bar. Several fleets do this to either save money on hanger brackets, or to try to eliminate breaking flaps that are mounted directly behind the rear axle when they get caught backing up over a curb. FLAPS HUNG AT THE ICC BAR COST 0.3 TO 0.4 MPG IN FUEL ECONOMY. We've demonstrated this repeatedly this year with folks who had made equipment decisions to run this way.

- Similarly, DON'T use stiffeners to keep conventional flaps from blowing back at highway speeds. Same effect. You end up exaggerating the drag factor of the flaps, and further reducing your fuel economy.

- Trailer flaps are the most critical part of the fuel savings solution. If you can only change one thing on a rig, make sure the trailer flaps are what you swap out for fuel saving Eco-flaps.  2/3 of the overall savings from Eco-flaps get delivered by the trailer flaps.

- The more flaps you have on a rig, the greater the loss of fuel economy on the highway. We have picked up over 10% improvement in fuel economy for flatbeds, tankers, reefers, etc. that operate with 6 or more mudflaps.

- DON'T block any unnecessary portion of the undercarriage of the trailer with extra fuel tanks, air tanks, hazard signs spanning the ICC bar, deck to flap solid hanger bars, etc.. ANYTHING that blocks this air flow, especially back towards the rear of the trailer significantly pulls down fuel economy.

Our current fleet customers include Nestle´, Kraft, US Xpress, NFI, New Century, Ceva Logistics, Ryder, Black Horse Carriers, Arctic Express, Dillon Transport, and many midsize and smaller regional fleets.

Feedback we received in November from other fleets trialing the new fuel saving flaps included:

TRUE VALUE -- went from 6.44 MPG to 7.07 MPG with Eco-flaps® on an 80 mile test.

RISINGER BROS. -- went from 5.4 MPG to 5.7 MPG on a 48 mile test.

ORCHARD SUPPLY -- went from 5.7 MPG to 6.1 MPG on a 54 mile test.

WALGREENS -- Transerve trialed the flaps for two weeks in round trips between Flagstaff and Alamogordo. Total weekly mileage was 2600+ miles with both types of flaps. Fuel economy went from 6.48 MPG to 6.87 MPG using Eco-flaps®.

WATKINS-SHEPPARD -- trialed a 2005 Volvo hooked to tandem trailers for a total load of 103,000 lbs. for 2600 mile runs through the mountains out west. Fuel economy went from 4.5 MPG to 4.87 MPG with Eco-flaps®.

Right now we have a couple of fleets with straight trucks recording miles and fuel economy for us to determine what fuel savings Eco-flaps® may be able to offer Class 5 thru Class 7 trucks that travel the highway, as well.

We are in discussions to bring some other major fleets on board early in 2009, and are working on a 26" and 27" long flap for Class 8 trailers. (We noticed as we participated in road trials with many fleets this year that they may purchase a 30" flap, but their maintenance staff cut them down to the shorter length to reduce breakage, curb catching, etc..)

Feel free to get in touch with Barry Andersen, the original inventor of fuel saving Eco-flaps®, or myself, if you have any questions about any information included in this recap of our accomplishments this year.

One last note -- Perdue Farms trialed the Eco-flaps® on their reefer equipment late last week and got 9% improvement in fuel economy. Even with lower cost diesel, those kinds of highway savings continue to bring us new customers and new converts!

Regards,

Cindy Kerr
Andersen Flaps, Inc.



November 2008-

FleetPride to offer Ecoflaps®

August 2008-

Andersen Flaps commercials run in World of Trucks on the Outdoor Channel

Ecoflaps® picked as one of the favorites at the 2008 Great West Truck Show in Las Vegas

AmeriQuest and NationaLease are reviewing Andersen mudflaps for use on their Class 8 trucks.

Nestle's private fleet joins our customer base and invited Andersen Flaps to participate in October 2008 energy savings seminar for their subcontractor carriers.

Prime, Inc. confirms the impact of using mudflaps at trailer ICC mount: this corporate standard for their fleet is costing them over 0.4 MPG in fuel economy on the highway.

July 2008-

Barry Andersen broadcast featured on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Road Dog Trucking" show with Evan Lockridge. Incoming callers rave about the fuel savings they are getting from Eco-Flaps® vs. conventional mudflaps.

Kraft Foods performs comparative fuel economy test with Andersen mudflaps and trailer skirts, and gets more fuel savings from Eco-flaps® than the trailer skirts.

Ryder is now exploring the use of Eco-flaps® for Freightliner M2 straight truck fuel savings on the highway.

New Century Transportation demonstrates the impact of conventional mudflaps on the fuel economy with 100 mile run sans flaps. Back to back runs on NJ Turnpike yield 0.5 impact of mudflaps on highway diesel consumption.

May 2008-

Andersen Flaps filmed for OutDoor Channel's World of Trucks episode featuring the latest, innovative truck products for class 8 tractor/trailers from the 2008 MATS

Michelin tapes sales promotion footage at New Century Transportation in late May featuring Michelin's X One tires and Andersen fuel saving mudflaps.

April 2008-

Ryder (U.S.) becomes new customer

One of 7 Finalists for the 2008 Chattanooga Kruesi Spirit of Innovation Award - Click Here

US Express CEO, Max Fuller, is quoted in Forbes magazine crediting Andersen flaps as part of their successful initiatives to achieve a 2.0 MPG improvement in fuel economy.

March 2008-

Diesel prices at $4 per gallon shorten Andersen Flaps' payback to 1 week


Toyota test tracks trials Ecoflaps®


OOIDA's Land Line magazine welcomes Andersen Flaps as a new advertiser

February 2008-

New Century Transportation joins Andersen's mudflaps' fleet customer base


Andersen Flaps runs a close second to Michelin for the top 2007 TWNA Technical Achievement of the Year Award

UTC SIMCenter highlights wind drag research for Class 8 mudflaps (see Test Data link on homepage)  

January 2008-

Andersen Flaps begins negotiations for national truck stop distribution for fuel saving mudflaps with Barjan

December 2007-

Road Star Magazine and HDT Magazine places Ecoflaps® in the trucking industry's top new products for 2007

November 2007-

Dunkin' Donuts kicks off Andersen Flaps trials on Mid Atlantic fleet

October 19, 2007-

Ecoflaps® make the Chattanooga Times Free Press "Inventor Hopes Truckers Slap New Flaps on Big Rigs" Click Here

September 2007-

Road King magazine features Andersen Flaps as a hot new product in the current issue

August 2007-

Andersen Flaps releases sample DVD demonstrating road spray control-benefits of their new mudflaps vs. conventional flaps currently on the market

July 2007-

HDT magazine covers Andersen Flaps as a unique new fuel saving product for the Class 8 Truck Market


Chattanooga, TN January, 2007-

Andersen Overhauls the Mud Flap
Company Rolls Out Safety, Savings, and Conservation for the Transportation Industry and the Environment.