State’s new regs, along with nationwide fuel prices, are driving sales of trailer aero devices.

For van trailer owners who run in California, the big one is coming Jan. 1, 2013. No, it’s not a forecast for the next major earthquake. It’s the date when all 53-foot or longer van trailers must outfit with aerodynamic equipment certified by the federal SmartWay Transport Partnership to improve fuel economy by at least 4 percent.

Brett Tobin says he’s increased his loaded mpg by at least 0.9 by adding a tail device and side skirts. He estimates he gets close to 12 mpg when deadheading.

Lavel Larson, leased to Valley Express of Fargo, N.D., couldn’t wait. He paid $44,000 on trade-in for a 2011 Great Dane reefer equipped with Freight Wing side skirts and wide single tires. He’d recently bought an aerodynamic 2011 Kenworth T700.

“I bought the trailer with the intention of putting on side skirts,” says Larson, of Battle Lake, Minn. “I needed the skirts to run in California, which is pretty much my regular run,” hauling grain products west and produce east.

The California Air Resources Board compliance date for 2011 dry van and reefer trailers was Jan. 1, 2010. “I still had another year on my old trailer (2005), but the CARB regulation was the other reason to update the reefer,” Larson says.

For owner-operators who work in California, the purchase of aerodynamic enhancements such as side skirts, trailer tails and front-end deflectors is a regulatory requirement. Beyond the 2013 date for dry vans, a series of compliance dates looms for reefer owners. Compliance is driving many owners to retrofit their trailers.

“What’s going to happen Jan. 1, 2013, when trailers can’t come into the state without skirts and low rolling resistance tires?” asks owner-operator Rob Fleig, who had a Nose Cone device installed on the front of his trailer. “It could be a line of trucks at the California state line stretching back to Oklahoma.”