Jan 19, 2010 2:49 PM

Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has received nearly $40 million in funding through the US Department of Energy’s  21st Century Truck Technology Partnership.

The DOE award was announced by Energy Secretary Steven Chu in Columbus IN recently and will be shared by DTNA’s sister company, Detroit Diesel Corporation, and other project partners. The DTNA award is the largest of the nine project awards announced by the DOE.

Through this program, the DOE will provide more than $115 million in funding to qualifying OEM’s for research projects with the objective of improving the freight efficiency of Class 8 trucks. Program vehicle prototypes will be built to move large volumes of freight at efficiency levels well beyond today’s standards while reducing greenhouse gases and dependency on foreign oil. Freight efficiency is defined as ton-miles per gallon of fuel.

DTNA’s commitment to the environment includes developing fuel-efficient engines and vehicles, as well as maintaining sustainable production processes. DTNA’s in-house wind tunnel testing facility serves to refine aerodynamics on vehicles such as the recently introduced Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 truck with the objective of reducing fuel consumption and emissions. The company uses Detroit Diesel heavy-duty engines with BlueTec emissions technology that are designed to meet EPA 2010 emissions standards as well as provide improved fuel efficiency.

The DTNA SuperTruck project team will begin operation immediately. Project goals include the demonstration of a 50% total increase in vehicle freight efficiency through a five-year research and development process focusing on advanced vehicle systems and engine technologies.