|
Caterpillar®
Says: We're Ready for 2007
Company to Provide Extended Service Coverage and On-Time Promise to '07-Model Engine Purchasers
Caterpillar today announced that it will offer a special coverage program on all 2007-model
Cat ® engines with ACERT™ Technology delivered to end-users in the U.S. or Canada during the first half of 2007 for commercial
on-highway service.
“Many fleets have told us that they're concerned about the technology changes that all the engine
manufacturers are making in their 2007 engines. Cat has nearly 12 million test miles on our 2007 pre-production engines, and
customers who are operating them are telling us that they're as reliable and fuel efficient as Cat engines have always been,” said George Taylor, director and general manager of Caterpillar On-Highway Engine Business. “We want to share that confidence with users who are undecided on their engine purchases. So we are offering free Extended Service Coverage and our On-Time Promise on every 2007-model Cat engine.”
The new program, called Caterpillar Pure Confidence, includes Extended S
ervice Coverage (ESC) and the Cat On-Time Promise. ESC offers full parts and labor coverage on covered engine and
emission components for three years/300,000 miles on all C9, C13 and C15 engines and three years/150,000 miles on all C7 engines.
To receive this coverage, these engines must be purchased and delivered between January 1, 2007 and June 30, 2007. And, if a
2007-model Cat engine requires repairs that will keep it sidelined for more than 24 hours during 2007, Cat will reimburse the user
for a rental vehicle to get the load to the destination on time. Some restrictions apply. See your Cat or Cat-authorized truck
dealer for details of the program.
The evidence that Cat is ready
for 2007 is rolling in: more than 100 pre-production engines are being tested by 56 fleets and are demonstrating excellent
reliability and fuel economy virtually identical to 2006-model engines.
Maintenance Director Curtis Wright of A. Passmore & Sons Trucking in Altus,
Okla., is currently testing several pre-production 2007 Cat engines with ACERT Technology and reports that reliability and fuel
economy are fulfilling their expectations. “Regarding fuel economy, the Cat '07 pre-production engine runs right in the same
ballpark as our current Cat engines,” Wright said. “I have no maintenance issues with the pre-production engine in this truck;
it just hasn't broken down. It's a profitable truck.”
Bill Chaney of L.H. Chaney Materials Inc., a highway construction materials hauler
in Roanoke, Texas, agrees.
“Since putting two Cat '07 pre-production engines into service, we've had no problems.
Based on our experience, we feel extremely confident with Cat's product moving into '07,” Chaney said.
The new Pure Confidence program is exactly what customers expect
from Caterpillar, according to David Freymiller, president of Freymiller Inc. in Oklahoma City , who currently is running a
Cat '07 pre-production engine.
“In the past 12 months, with 160,000 miles on the engine, we have only had one
minor repair. In all of the years that we've run Caterpillar, Cat has always stood behind their products,” he said.
Caterpillar has sold more than 450,000 on-highway engines with ACERT Technology
to more than 46,000 customers since the technology was introduced in 2003. Customer acceptance of Cat engines is reflected
in the company's sixth J.D. Power and Associates Award, which Caterpillar received in 2006 for “Highest Customer Satisfaction
With Vocational Heavy Duty Diesel Engines.” Customer satisfaction was measured in the J.D. Power and Associates annual study
of vehicle owners who operate in typically rugged vocations such as dump trucks or garbage trucks. The new engines feature an
enhanced version of ACERT Technology that allows these engines to comply with the 2007 EPA regulations without sacrificing
reliability, durability or fuel economy.
For more information please click here.
Caterpillar C-12 received the highest numerical score in the proprietary J.D.
Power and Associates 2000-2003, 2005-2006 Heavy Duty Truck Engine/Transmission Customer Satisfaction StudySM. 2006 study
based on 2,529 total telephone interviews measuring opinions of principal maintainers (owner/operators and fleet managers)
of Class 8 heavy duty trucks. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of principal maintainers
surveyed in April-June 2006. Your experiences may vary. Visit J. D.Power online.
Issue 47 11/22/06
To learn more about Caterpillar On-Highway Engines, please visit:
http://www.cattruckengines.com/. |