After nearly four decades spent improving the technology and components behind commercial truck development Skip Yeakel is taking a step backward, so to speak, to work on a project that could change the shape of trailers forever. Yeakel says the trailer aerodynamics project he is participating in this year has the potential not only to permanently alter trailer design but vastly improve the operating efficiency - and even safety - of fleets. If this technology works like it has in small-scale wind tunnel testing, it will border on revolutionary change for this industry, he says. The trailer aerodynamics project, sponsored by the Dept. of Energy's Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies, is part of a design initiative guided by the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to increase the fuel efficiency of heavy vehicles and reduce highway emissions. Late last year Volvo received a contract from ORNL to evaluate new technology developed and patented by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).