Last spring, partnership companies unveiled the new prototypes. The cars are demonstrations of the newest materials, efficient engines, and design details. Of the three vehicles unveiled, one achieved 70 mpg and the other two achieved 80 mpg; one of those, if fitted with a fuel cell, will achieve more than 100 mpg. Challenges remain, but the technologies developed in the program are already flowing to the manufacturers' computer-aided design systems.

Just a few weeks after the PNGV vehicle unveiling, Vice President Gore announced the next step: a "21st-Century Truck Initiative." This partnership of the federal government and nine truck and diesel engine manufacturers has set a goal to improve the safety of all trucks; triple the fuel economy of heavy commercial pickups, delivery vans, and passenger buses; and double the fuel economy of long-haul tractor-trailer trucks. These commitments also include goals of lowering costs to truckers and reducing emissions below current federal mandates.

You've read the newspaper stories about higher gas prices and their effect on the trucking industry, but you'll understand the problem better when you know that the typical fuel economy of long-haul trucks is about 5 mpg of diesel. Improving the efficiency of long-haul commercial trucks is one of the reasons for the new partnership, but another is the government truck fleet.

One of the largest fleet operators of trucks in the United States is the Department of Defense. Its venerable fleet of 100,000-plus Hummvees has a few miles on the odometer and the department would like to increase their fuel economy in the process of maintaining them. One big reason is that a significant portion of the weight in a forward military deployment overseas is fuel, and the cost per gallon to transport and defend that fuel can exceed 10 times the retail cost at home.

Both the partnership and the goals for trucks are a little different than they were for cars. First, the truck industry is smaller, and has many more manufacturers and niche suppliers involved. Second, the goals for trucks apply to delivered "payload," not to fuel use. To illustrate, the partnership has set a goal of doubling the fuel economy of big rigs on a "ton-mile" per gallon basis of payload. This permits a manufacturer to gain better advantage from using new weight-saving material technologies.

Many engineers might view trucks as a "mature" technology, where most of the good ideas have already been applied. Not true—lots of great ideas have been waiting for an opportunity like the Clean Truck Initiative. Here are a few: In safety, trailer ABS is coming on line. Improved aerodynamics can dramatically reduce the amount of moisture take-up behind a vehicle, improving the view for both the trucker and surrounding drivers. PNGV has brilliantly demonstrated the replacement of rearview mirrors with full-field cameras. Doing the same for trucks can improve safety and fuel economy to a greater degree (just check out how big those mirrors are). Finally, one of the most ingenious aerodynamic innovations resulting from PNGV is the venting of heated, expanded gases from the engine into the low-pressure zone at the rear of the vehicle to achieve a phenomenally low 0.16 drag coefficient. Considering the engine size and aerodynamics of trucks, the fuel-use savings implications of applying this one innovation could be enormous.

The 21st-Century Truck Initiative has already met at the technical staff level several times to set the stage for a meeting of high-level administration officials and senior officers from the participating manufacturers. Industry partners are also meeting separately; they have expressed an interest in creating their own representative group for the partnership.

As an ASME Federal Fellow, I have had the great privilege to participate in these historic activities. More than once, a technology chief from a participating manufacturer has been much more impressed by my ASME Fellow business card than by the fact that I'm introduced as being "from the White House." ASME is very well regarded in the industry.

The truck partnership is also a fascinating snapshot of combined forces joined for the public good. At the first joint government-industry meeting, there were truck builders, bureaucrats, military staffers, and above all, engineers, especially mechanical engineers. In this era of dot-com stardom, it is refreshing to see so many mechanical engineers working together on a challenging design project to improve our quality of life and economic prosperity.

Patrick Quinlan is an ASME Federal Fellow in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

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