The GardX rear impact guard by Strick Trailers, an American manufacturer of aluminum sheet and post trailers, recently received Toughguard certification from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The company also recently named Cooper Tires as its standard, premium tire supplier.
To receive the IIHS certification, Strick passed a test evaluating the performance of its rear underride designs on truck trailers. In the test, a mid-size car traveling 35 mph is crashed into the back of a parked semitrailer.
Each trailer is tested in three configurations:
- Full width: The car crashes into the center of the trailer's rear.
- 50-percent overlap: Half of the car's width overlaps the rear of the trailer.
- 30-percent overlap: 30 percent of the car's width overlaps the rear of the trailer.
Rear impact guards that prevent underride in all three tests qualify for the IIHS Toughguard award.
“Strick is proud to have taken the necessary proactive steps to improve the rear guards of our dry van trailers and pleased with the opportunity to work with the dedicated team at IIHS,” said Justin Bell, Strick’s director of engineering.
Strick said it plans to roll out its GardX rear impact guard for long van trailers beginning with model year 2020, when all Strick trailers also will be equipped with Cooper Tires’ Roadmaster RM872 (EM), which is the newest addition to Cooper’s line of fuel-efficient SmartWay verified tires.
Like all components Strick selects as standard on its trailers, these tires were extensively tested to deliver exceptional performance, along with excellent fuel efficiency for the long haul.
“Cooper is widely known and respected in the truck trailer industry, and with more than a century in the tire industry, we are confident that this change will only complement the premium trailers we produce,” Bell said.