MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – When Navistar’s Steve Bruford envisions the truck of the future, he sees a tractor-trailer getting over 10 mpg.

The truck manufacturer is taking the first step toward hitting that goal through testing it’s been performing here the past 15 months in the world’s largest wind tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Under a $2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, Navistar has been testing commercially available and proposed aerodynamic devices attached to a 53-foot trailer behind one of its ProStar tractors.

The company held a Feb. 16 press event to focus on research results, along with NASA Ames and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which has been leading the testing. The project’s goal has been to increase fuel efficiency by integrating the tractor with the trailer more closely.

A bigger step is being organized by Bruford, vice president of vehicle product development at Navistar Truck Group, and his team under the DOE’s “SuperTruck” project. Navistar was awarded a $37.3 million DOE matching grant this year to develop technology and systems designed to increase heavy-duty truck fuel efficiency by 50 percent, compared with the 12 percent achieved at the facility here.

“We’re throwing the kitchen sink at it – from the engine to the tractor to the trailer – anything that can affect fuel economy,” Bruford said.

Navistar is lining up partners such as aerodynamic device maker Advanced Transit Dynamics, trailer manufacturer Wabash National, Swift Transportation, Safeway and a tire maker to work on the project and help defray Navistar’s financial share. Initial testing will begin later in the year under the five-year program.