Retractable fairing for reducing aerodynamic drag at the rear end of a commerical motor vehicle

A retractable fairing for reducing aerodynamic drag at a rear end of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), comprising:

• a streamlining element having an airflow surface with a medial edge defining an element medial plane, the airflow surface for streamlining air flowing past an aft portion of a vehicle side surface of the CMV;
• a suspension frame having an element end and a trailer end, the element end configured to hingedly support the streamlining element at approximately the element medial plane, the trailer end configured for hingedly mounting the suspension frame to approximately an outer vertical corner of the rear end and including a trailer hinge allowing the streamlining element to move in a horizontal plane into a folded position adjacent to the rear end of the CMV;
• and
• wherein the streamlining element is configured such that when a pair of streamlining elements of complementary shape are each mounted by a suspension frame to a respective left and right half of the rear end and are each placed in the folded position, the element medial plane of the streamlining elements face one another and the streamlining elements collectively form the retractable fairing substantially covering the rear end.