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GREENSBORO – The acting under secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy and Congressman Howard Coble paid a visit to Volvo's truck headquarters in Greensboro, Friday.

Volvo is one of four U.S. truck manufacturers, which also include Daimler, Cummins/Peterbilt and Navistar, that have partnered with the government in a program to develop the next generation of fuel-efficient tractor trailers.

The SuperTruck program's goals are ambitious. It seeks to increase the freight-hauling efficiency of tractor trailers by 50 percent and reduce their fuel consumption by 30 percent, both by 2015.

Officials with Volvo said the project's goals are within reach.

"We're looking at things like, not only engine technology, but aerodynamics, lightweight materials and it's all pretty exciting stuff,"  said executive vice president of The Volvo Group Denny Slagle. “And this is not Star Wars. I think we're close to bringing a lot of this into production, certainly in the next five to six years."

Congressman Howard Coble, a Sixth-District Republican, sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Coble said the project was crucial to the future of long haul trucking.

"We've been richly blessed with bountiful supply of energy, but we've done a sloppy job of developing it," said Rep. Coble.

Volvo is matching the U.S. Department of Energy's $19 million investment in the program. The department's director for advanced research projects said the project benefits would extend far beyond the trucking industry.

"And if you could reach that, it is good for our nation,” said Arun Majumdar, director of the department's advanced research projects agency. “It's good for the environment and it's good for the consumer, the customer, because it saves them dollars. So, it's a win-win-win situation out here."

The SuperTruck project is a component and a big one, of the U.S. Department of Energy's goal to break the nation's dependence on foreign oil.