Customers Say: Cat^® Engines with ACERT^® Technology Provide Value
Truck Owners Report Cat Engines Deliver Strong Fuel Economy,
Reliability, Performance

Only four years after their introduction, more than a quarter million Cat engines with ACERT Technology are in service today, with approximately 32,500 customers adding 69 million miles on the road. As a result, a growing number of fleets are reporting their experiences with these engines—and this feedback reinforces the value Cat delivers, according to Steve Brown, director of marketing, On-Highway Engines, Caterpillar Power Systems North America.

"The key benefits these customers keep mentioning include better fuel economy, driveability, reliability and durability," Brown said. "In terms of the bottom line, these engines deliver savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars for some of them."

One such customer is Kevin Campbell, service manager at Zimmerman Truck Lines, a 200-truck fleet operating out of Wilkes Barre, Pa. Campbell reported that their Cat engines with ACERT Technology are averaging two-tenths of a mile better fuel economy than the previous engine.

"As we all know, fuel mileage is crucial today," Campbell said. "We tracked it, and through time, one-tenth of a mile to Zimmerman Truck Lines is worth about $175,000 a year in savings. And two-tenths, you can just double the figures up through."

Bruce Stockton, vice president of maintenance for CFI in Joplin, Mo.—a company that runs more than 730 Caterpillar engines in its fleet—agrees. "We made our decision to go with the Cat engines after seeing, feeling and understanding what that truck would do," he said. "We didn't believe we would see fuel degradation in our fleet, we didn't believe we would have driveability complaints from our drivers, and that's proven to be true."

Stockton also commented that the support from Caterpillar and the Cat dealer network has been critical to his company's success with these engines.

"It's been proven to us that Caterpillar definitely has the backroom support, the service and the warranty to back up their product," he said. "We've seen an unparalleled amount of service and support from Caterpillar."

For Stephen Hrobuchak, president and owner of TRL in Pittston, Pa., fuel economy and performance of the new engines are key.

"Right now we're with the C15s. We're achieving phenomenal fuel mileage with these engines in these tractors we have now," he said. "We are anticipating after the initial tune-up and summer operation getting very, very close to seven miles to a gallon. And now, let me point out that we're hauling boxes here, either a reefer or a dry van, and it's mountainous operations—we're not running flatlands through the southeast and southwest.

"We just recently took a very, very hard line on speed with our trucks. The off-setting complement to turning our speed down five miles an hour is giving our drivers a new tractor with a C15 with ACERT Technology," Hrobuchak continued. "Now, the tradeoff to the driver is not only the new tractor, but the fact that they have so much power. They're going up hills so much faster and the average speed is actually up."

Jim Aartman, president and chief executive officer of Jim Aartman, Incorporated in Ripon, Ca., said that with 90 C13 engines equipped with ACERT Technology in service since March 2004, fuel economy has actually improved—in spite of all of the discussion in the industry that fuel economy would decline in the new engines.

"We have seen an increase in fuel economy that by some parameter settings would offset any possible loss by actually doing better and averaging 6.6 to 6.7 miles per gallon," he said. "And, we've had no unscheduled maintenance issues with the C13s."

After being one of the companies to initially test ACERT Technology beginning in November 2000, Jim Shriner, maintenance director for Ned Bard & Son Company in Leola, Pa., expressed his appreciation for Caterpillar's willingness to develop a brand new technology that delivers the same customer value of the pre-October 2002 engines.

"Caterpillar came to the marketplace looking outside the scope. And sometimes if you look outside the scope, you'd be amazed—if you keep an open mind—what you'll find," he said. "Caterpillar, at the engineering level and at the factory level, really put a piece of iron together that they can be very, very proud of."

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Issue 33 8/23/05
To learn more about Caterpillar On-Highway Engines, please visit:
http://www.cattruckengines.com

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