. While passenger cars and trucks are getting more efficient to meet new mpg standards, it's not easy to raise the fuel economy of a big rig. And while there are a few large-scale initiatives aimed at helping heavy-duty-vehicle manufacturers increase their fuel efficiency, it can be tough for smaller fleet owners to install their own cost-saving measures.

They need a smaller, simpler solution, such as the Eco-Flap. This new spin on the traditional mud flap cuts down on wind resistance and lowers fuel costs, allowing owners to operate a more energy-efficient fleet.

The team at Chattanooga, Tenn.–based Anderson Flaps didn't set out to create a greener mud flap. They actually set out to create a cleaner one. The company hoped to revamp mud-flap design to allow for better passage of air through the flaps. The freer passage of air would help reduce the accumulation of grime by allowing water or mud from tire spray to drain on the flap, as opposed to piling up on top of it.

Anderson created a curved, winglike flap from a high-impact plastic that it tested under extreme weather conditions. Unlike traditional mud flaps, which often are blown backward when traveling at high speeds or against high winds, the winglike design of the Eco-Flap allows more air to pass through the flap.

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That means that once the Eco-Flap makes contact with any spray, it transports mud or water to the dead air space on the opposite side of the flap. Once there, the spray forms droplets that fall to the ground instead of accumulating on the surface of the flap—or flying onto the windshields of other cars.

What Anderson's engineers didn't realize at first was that the passing air, no longer trapped by a flap, would also cut down on drag and make a semi more fuel-efficient. Eco-Flaps, which are packaged and installed like any other mud flap, reduce wind resistance and cut the amount of fuel wasted from strong winds by as much as 8 percent. That means that in good weather conditions, they can reduce total fuel usage by as much as 3.5 percent. Best of all for fleet owners, Eco-Flaps do that without compromising the utility of more traditional mudflap designs.

Eco-Flaps cost $39.99 per 24-x-24-inch flap, significantly more than the average flap price of about $14.99. But Anderson representatives say the average fleet owner and operator can earn that difference back within a month, thanks to fuel savings. The flaps are also designed to be more durable and better equipped to handle high-wind and side-wind conditions, meaning they should last longer.

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