The title given to the solution for fuel economy is the Load Reduction System or LRS. Design of the system will allow a Class-8 tractor and trailer to improve fuel economy a minimum of 60% above present averages that are routinely 6-mpg. An LRS equipped tractor and trailer configuration will operate at a minimum of 9.6-mpg using the 60% minimum average for a tractor and trailer operating at its maximum load of 80,000-lbs. gross vehicle weight (GVW). A low yearly average of 100,000 miles per year results in 16,666 gallons of diesel fuel used and at $4.50 per gallon it will cost $74,997. Initial retrofit installation of the system is planned to provide 80% reduction in the energy required to operate the vehicle. We are offering the system at savings of 60% that gives us a 20% margin of error. At the 60% level the LRS will reduce the cost of fuel by $44,998.20. Cost of operation will then be a total of $29,998.80 for the same 100,000 miles of operation.
Understanding the operation of the LRS requires a paradigm shift in the thought pattern that tells you the inertia of the vehicle and the load being transported is dead weight and the only thing to do is apply more power to overcome the loading effect. The paradigm that is introduced by the function of the LRS is that the weight or loading effect is no longer just dead weight but in fact becomes part of the source of energy that provides the overall force to attain and create motion of the total vehicle.
