Truck Lite Co. LLC brought several of its light emitting diode (LED) headlamps and trailer “pigtail” lights for commercial vehicles to the 2012 Mid America Trucking Show.
The company showed off its 7-inch round DOT approved LED headlamp – first introduced in 2009 – along with a 5-inch by 7-inch square LED headlamp model rolled out in February this year.
Brad Van Riper, Truck Lite’s senior VP and chief technology officer, also unveiled a new “aerodynamic” forward LED headlamp package as well, one designed to fit the increasing number of aerodynamic-shaped Class 8 tractors being introduced into the trucking market.
“We’re trying to create different LED headlamp ‘modules’ to fit the different styles of aerodynamic trucks on the road today,” he said.
Truck Lite also showed off a new design feature of LED “pigtail” market lights for the rear top rail of dry van and refrigerated trailers. Riper said these lights can be synched with the trailer’s brake lights so they will shine more brightly when the brakes are deployed – providing more visual indicators that a tractor-trailer is slowing down or stopping completely.
“They can be easily retrofitted, too, plugging into the existing ‘stop/turn’ trailer wiring harnesses,” he added. “They also shine when the brakes are deployed whether the marker lights are turned off or on.”
Riper noted that these enhanced LED “pigtail” marker lamps are priced at just $30. “ It’s all about providing a lower cost way to provide better brake signal visibility at the rear of a tractor-trailer,” he stressed, noting that Truck Lite is now working to develop similar “dual function” rear corner marker lights for trailers to work in unison with the turn signal.
