Wincanton raises the roof and improves fuel efficiency with Freddies

Wincanton has taken delivery of 115 new tractor units equipped with powered, height-adjustable roof fairings, reporting that height-matched fairings improve fuel consumption by about 5% compared with conventional fixed fairings.

The units, 90 Mercedes-Benz Actros (the outgoing model) and 25 Renault Premiums, have joined Wincanton’s container division.

The Actros units have the Hatcher-designed Freddie roof fairing with automatic height adjustment.

When drivers switch on the ignition, the fairing’s photo-electric system ‘looks’ for a trailer to set its own height via the electric actuators. If there is no trailer or container, or if the container is more than 1.8m behind the cab, the fairing sets itself at its lowest position. At its highest setting, the fairing suits trailers up to 4.6m high.

For the Premiums, Hatcher has added its electrically operated height adjustment and sensing system to Renault’s own fairing. The driver uses buttons to adjust the height, as prompted by the sensor system’s lights.

None of the new vehicles use Hatcher’s most sophisticated Active Freddie system, which continuously adjusts fairing height to suit wind yaw angle (settings should be lower at high yaw angles for optimum aerodynamic efficiency).

Ian Wilson, the MD of Wincanton’s container division, said: “We estimate [this system] will save us about 5% in fuel costs compared with our older vehicles.”