Elaine

The trucking industry will change drastically in the next 20 years and out pace previous decades of slower incremental change. Much of this change will come from the need to increase efficiency, reduce pollution and take advantages of economies of scale.

Some more change will come from space-age materials which are now being developed. Materials such as Carbon Nano-Tubes and Graphene will cut the weight of a truck by 10-times and that means less fuel, more room for cargo and radically new designs.

Luigi Colani is considered the ultimate truck designer and is famous around the world for his designs and brilliant marketing and flair for style. Above is a sample of one of his many designs, very impressive indeed, and so are the low-coefficients of drag.

Why are all these changes coming?

Because the Trucking Industry is trying to streamline and become more efficient and in doing so it has to look for where it can shave costs and improve in incremental steps. Lately those steps have been too small and slow in coming and now design teams are considering what else can be done in order to leap forward to larger cost savings.

Will Luigi Colani's futuristic designs and prototypes become a reality? Well they very well could in the future, because some are said to be 80% more efficient with airflow and that is huge savings in fuel. Next take new materials coming down the innovation pipeline and you can see how the combination of such technologies may just drive the trucking industry into the future in style.

L. Winslow is a Transportation and Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entreprenuer. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.