Reuben Sarkar, DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for transportation, announced Tuesday at the start of NTEA’s Green Truck Summit that the department plans to invest $80 million in SuperTruck II, building upon the 2010 SuperTruck initiative. “SuperTruck was aimed at developing Class 8 tractor-trailers that have 50% higher freight efficiency than baseline models by the year 2015, with a percentage of this coming from engine efficiency gains,” he told attendees.”We’re seeing tremendous amounts of increases that are coming from these demonstration and research programs,” he noted, adding that the four teams used technologies including aerodynamics packages, low rolling resistance tires, engine and waste heat recovery, and highly efficient combustion engines.