The Company
Laydon Composites Ltd. (LCL) provides aerodynamic solutions to the trucking industry. The President, Brian P. Layfield, is a pioneer in tractor/trailer aerodynamics with 30 years of experience. He continued the development of the first add on wind deflector for tractors in 1978, based on Dr. S. Saunders' technology from MIT. The first to work with 1/10th scale models in a private wind tunnel in 1979, the first air fairing system licensed from Dr. Buckley in 1983; and the first to supply air fairing systems to Freightliner in 1983, followed with standard equipment on Kenworth, Peterbilt, General Motors, Ford Heavy Truck, Volvo/White, Freightliner, Navistar and Mack.
Developed the first vortex stabilizer in 1984, a device to close the gap between tractor and trailer, and again the first to develop a trailer fairing system in 1994 which were installed on CF trailers, with one unit running for an estimated 1.5 million miles before the trailer was retired in 2006. Thousands of nose fairings were supplied to equip the front of straight trucks improving aerodynamic performance. Third party testing was conducted in the early 90's with the National Research Centre wind tunnel in Ottawa, Canada; and the Texas A&M wind tunnel in 1992.
Proud to be a supplier to the Who's Who of the tractor/trailer industry, with such names as UPS, Ryder, Penske, Wal-Mart, Yellow, Conway, Covenant, Pepsi, Publix, Safeway, and many of the earlier companies such as McLean's, Consolidated Freightways, PIE, Roadway, Direct, Leeway, Carolina Freight. Saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel for those customers when fuel was just a $1 per gallon.
With this vast body of knowledge, LCL continues to develop and introduce aerodynamic products for the tractor/trailer industry that are much more efficient providing huge savings with fuel costs quadrupling and continuing to rise. We continue to third party test our devices gaining independent verification of performance, such as SAE Type II tests at Goodyear and Bridgestone and SAE Type III at Goodyear, proving beyond any doubt that fuel savings are substantial. During 2008 LCL ran over 60 tests using 1/8th scale models at Automotive Research Centre (test facility for automotive OEM's, plus NASCAR and Formula I racing teams) in Indianapolis again proving LCL and its products are leaders in providing add on tractor and trailer aerodynamics.
LCL is a one stop shop providing solutions to the transportation industry through all stages from conception, design, computer simulation, tool development, prototyping, testing, and production tooling to manufacturing of components. All made possible with our highly trained and experienced staff, state of the art software, CNC equipment, robotics, ISO certified manufacturing facility and affiliation with several development and testing organizations around the world.
If you are considering adding fuel saving solutions to your equipment why not go with the leaders who have proven it over and over again.
LCL your Tractor / Trailer Aerodynamic Specialists