Caterpillar Submits Engine for Certification, ATA Asks Bush To Delay Diesel Engine Rule

Danielle Jackson

Peoria, Ill. -- Caterpillar Inc. has submitted its new heavy duty engine line for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification under tighter emissions rules that will take effect October 1.

Meantime, in a letter to President George W. Bush, 345 members of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), Washington, D.C., asked for a delay in the new diesel standards implementation.

ATA members said the type of new engines required by the EPA have not been tested enough, and the tests that have been conducted show that the new engines have a higher breakdown rate, decreased fuel economy, higher operating temperatures, double the normal engine oil consumption, and unexpected wear and tear on other engine components.

In the letter, ATA members also state that original estimated costs of $803 per engine are unrealistic, and that the cost will be somewhere around $9,000 more than previous models.

The White House has not yet responded to the petition.

Waste Age will analyze the effects of the emissions standards in its September 2002 issue.