Curved Upper Edge on Trailers Avoids Tree-Branch Damage
The idea came from truck bodies, but Darry Stuart put it to use on trailers.
Damage to trailers from overhanging tree branches got Darry Stuart to thinking.
Stuart, a contract maintenance manager under his DWS Fleet Services considered the problem faced by a wholesale grocery fleet and came up with a solution: a curved leading upper edge.
“The curved upper edges have been used on truck bodies for years,” he notes, “so I figured they’d work on trailers, even if no one offered them. What I was after was to reduce damage from branches” said Darry.
Tree limbs are common above streets and country highways and usually can’t be avoided. Branches hit against the roofs and corner caps of trailers because they get stuck against metal pieces. He reasoned that curved surfaces up there would let the branches slide past harmlessly.
Stuart talked with designers at Hyundai and got them to incorporate a curved surface. He settled for galvanized steel. It cost very little more than a standard design.
The damage done to these trailers has been greatly reduced, he says. “And if they do get damaged, it’s easy to fix because you don’t get into the roof.” The curved top nose rails should help them last that long.