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TECHNO-TRUCKS * USA - Heavy-duty computing
How does midsized truckmaker Kenworth get access to one of the world's most sophisticated supercomputers? The Internet, of course
Seattle,WASH,USA -CNNMoney/Fortune Magazine, by Jon Fortt -FEB 19, 2009: -- Most people don't spend much time thinking about mudflaps - those strips of rubber behind a big rig's wheels that repel grime and maybe show a gun-toting Yosemite Sam, warning "Back off!" But by using sophisticated design technology, engineers at truckmaker Kenworth discovered that the little flaps were also a major source of drag. Simply trimming and tapering the flaps will cut about $400 from a typical truck's annual gas bill... How exactly did Kenworth solve its mudflap quandary? The company, a unit of $15-billion-a-year truck conglomerate Paccar, took advantage of cloud computing. In Kenworth's case, engineers rented time on a supercomputer thousands of miles away; that system helped employees root out assorted gas-guzzling design flaws they might have missed had they relied just on computers at Kenworth's facilities outside Seattle... Indeed, the engineers used rented computing gear to produce the T660, an aerodynamic truck released in 2007 that ditched the typical bulldog look for a more dolphin-like snout and can get roughly seven miles per gallon. (Don't laugh. That's actually impressive for a semi)...
Customers have noticed. Larry Anderson, president of food-delivery company A&A Express, recently ordered several of the trucks. "Every new truck we get is more efficient than the last," says Anderson, who estimates that the new rigs and careful driving could save him a half-million dollars a year on gas...
The resulting design changes aren't visually drastic, but they make a real difference. The slightest shift in the curve of the headlights, the shape of the fender, or the angle of the mirrors can dramatically alter a truck's business value. Take that mudflap, for example: A little haircut added an extra half-percent of fuel efficiency to the T660. Preston Feight, Kenworth's chief engineer, says it is one of several tweaks that could save a 1,000-truck fleet $1 million a year... (Photo: 1. Preston Feight, chief engineer, uses cloud computing to redesign Kenworth trucks without making huge investments in technology - Photo 2: See Video- Image 3. A sketch of the truck of tomorrow) 
Labels: technonews
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