Reinhausen Tour Rolls into Chattanooga

If you were driving around downtown Chattanooga on Wednesday, you may have noticed a strange looking truck parked near Warehouse Row. The Rolling Reinhausen tour was in town today and brought Chattanoogans an eye full.

At first glance, it looks like some sort of space machine from the movies. Only when you take a closer look, you realize it's an 18-wheeler that's out of this world.

"Everybody says, when they see  the picture, 'Oh, what a fancy truck!'. And then they see it in person, it's like, 'Amazing!',"  A.J Bauer, the Tour and Truck Manager,  told us.

A.J Bauer is the driver of the Colani, the new and improved truck designed and built in Germany. It boasts a sleek design, including an extra wide windshield which eliminates blind spots for drivers. It also allows drivers to sit about three feet higher than other truck drivers, giving them a better view of the road. The Colani is also greener than the semis you're familiar with; while most trucks get 4.7 miles per gallon, the Colani pushes almost 9.  But Mr. Bauer says they could do even better.

"Even with the old engine, because it's a 2004 engine, the technology has changed a little bit. So the latest engines are much more efficient. So we could go even higher with the latest engines," he said.

Along with promoting the sleek new truck design, they're also promoting Reinhausen products. The company, which is based out of Humbolt, Tennessee makes products like tap changers, which goes on power transformers to regulate voltage. Today, folks from TVA and EPB toured the 864 square foot fold out trailer and all of the Reinhausen products on display.

 "A truck stop to get gas usually takes about 10 minutes, you go in pay for the fuel, and the leave. But it turns into a 30 minute or hour ordeal for people to get pictures and such," said Steve Averitt, the Area Sales Manager for Reinhausen Manufacturing.

Chattanooga was 18th on the list of 51 cities the rolling Reinhausen  tour is visiting but Mr. Averitt says getting here, took some time.

"It's been quite the experience. But it's definitely unique seeing it coming down the road," he said.

The Colani is the 14th truck of its kind to ever be built. The Rolling Reinhausen tour will last throughout the summer, wrapping up in August. Reinhausen and the Colani truck say they're glad to be teamed up to promote both of their greener products.