Concept for a Freight Efficient Heavy Duty Truck Chassis

As part of the Volvo SuperTruck II effort to achieve a 100 percent improvement in heavy truck freight efficiency, an alternative chassis concept was developed to decrease tractor chassis weight and provide additional payload capacity. Performance enabling features such as flexible roll formed side rails, high strength aluminum, and air tank cross members were implemented to achieve these goals. Analytical methods for evaluation of chassis stiffness, modal frequency, and fatigue-life are provided. Comparisons between the reference vehicle and the SuperTruck II chassis demonstrate that critical design and performance criteria have not been compromised. Calculations are provided to show the link between chassis design features and freight efficiency. These calculations show that the SuperTruck II chassis provides a freight efficiency improvement up to 1.9%, which translates to a 2019 annual cost avoidance as high as $2181 per truck relative to the reference vehicle.