Caterpillar truck engines have been much loved in Australia and attracted a loyal following for many decades. Taking Cat engines out of the OEM market brought tears of frustration (well almost) from many operators.

Entering the ‘whole truck’ market through a partnership with Navistar came as a surprise.
However in 2010 Cat seemed to turn around a little with the launch of the dedicated Caterpillar truck. More than 500 of these were built in an attempt to place Euro 4 equivalent engines in new Australian trucks before the end of 2010. The majority of this build is still lined up in a backlot at Cat’s Tullamarine HQ.

The Cat C15, a much loved line haul engine now gets ADR 80/03 rating with twin Diesel Particulate Filters

Now Caterpillar says it has the answer to ADR80/03 (Australia’s current emission standard and roughly akin to Euro 5) by the introduction of a particulate filter to meet the emission requirements of ADR80/03.

News of two ‘new’ Caterpillar engines came at a media conference held at the posh Shangri La Hotel in The Rocks, Sydney.

Cat Trucks Australia MD, Bill Fulton, explained the re-release of the C15 revamped to meet Australian ADR 80/03 uses passive regeneration technology utilising a twin Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) system developed in the States by Johnson Matthey Technology.

Mr Fulton says the high ambient temperature in Australia assists in this approach, to meet Australian standards while it still maintains the performance and economy expectations of previous C15 users.

The system bypasses the SCR and EGR technologies used by other engine manufacturers.

The new C15s will be officially launched at the Melbourne truck show in March and will be available from the end of 2012. It will of course only be available in the NC2 marketed Cat trucks.

This afternoon Caterpillar also announced the coming release of the C13, a n EGR engine due to start testing in Australia mid 2012.

As 2011 moves towards curtains down, several truck manufacturers are dodging for pole position in 2012 to compete in, what some commentators are expecting to be a bear market.

Rumours are definitely not to be believed BUT there’s a bit of scuttlebutt around that MAN has won the lucrative Australian Defence Forces contract – or certainly a hefty chunk of it. Pat Cook from Western Star / MAN will not confirm or deny the rumours, however …

Mack has just launched the big MP10 giving the company a proprietary engine in the heavy end of its truck lineup. Along with the MP8 the two engines give a bulldog heart to 90 per cent of the product lineup – the Metro-Liner with the Cummins ISL is the only model now without the option of a bulldog’s heart.

Caterpillar – NC2 – is expected to make an announcement tomorrow (Friday December 9) probably along the lines of the Caterpillar C15 and C13 engines being emission-ready for the Australian ADRs to bring it close to Euro 5. General Manager for Sales and Marketing of NC2 Global Australia, Jeff Tyzack, says emissions have been controlled by utilizing a particulate filter without the need to go towards EGR or SCR systems, technology it seems that Caterpillar does not have market-ready as yet. It will be interesting to hear what the Cat people have to say at their media conference tomorrow.

All those white Cat trucks lined up in a row? Of the apparent 540 Caterpillar trucks with pre-Euro 5 engines built before December 31, 2010 to make them road legal in Australia, Jeff Tyzack says 125 have been sold and another 100 have buyers names on them as we head into the second year after their manufacture.

A pleasant Friday afternoon last week, kicking back beside a glistening Sydney Harbour, sharing the delicacies of the up-market Quay Restaurant and listening to Scania’s senior vice president of trucks, Henrik Henriksson talk of global trends and the booming market for trucks in South America and other developing countries. Seems that around 45% of Scania’s 2011 truck build will be fitted with Euro 3 and Euro 4 engines, mostly going to Russia and South America.

Australian Scania MD, Roger McCarthy says Scania will be offering both SCR and EGR options through 2012.

And Volvo of course broke the champagne bottle across the bow of the FMX range and Volvo, Mack and Scania could have announcements to make in the first quarter of next year.

Putting aside the usual buzz of sitting on top of a high-power diesel engine pulling three trailers, grossing 110 tonnes, putting aside that ‘king of the road’ feeling – the release of the 685 hp MP10 engine is a big moment for Mack Trucks in at last having a Mack-branded engine at the heavy end of the company’s lineup. And there was an excitement in experiencing this new power plant.

While there are many strong points in the BIG decision to go SCR (all conventional prime mover engine options in this range currently are EGR) Mack is going to have to sell the reduced fuel capacity (previously 2700 litres, now 1900 to make way for the DEF (AdBlue) tank and other emission control devices). As Dean Hartley said in the video – cool running is a big plus and the increased fuel efficiency reduces the range disparity between the two fuel capacities: the challenge now is to sell this to operators in remote regions.

Mack seems absolutely certain that the supply of DEF (AdBlue) will not be an issue in remote regions and the company is underwriting this promise.

Mack’s worst kept secret has been the company’s new heavy duty engine, the MP10. Over the best part of the past year rumours have been floating about of the new jigger working in this fleet or that fleet across the nation. This week Mack Trucks launched the new, long-awaited power plant at Port Augusta, South Australia. Why Port Augusta? Because from here road trains can leave in triple combinations. I am yet to see the trucks (it’s not daylight here yet) but apparently there’s a SuperLiner and a Titan, both powered by the MP10 and they are hooked up to double and triple combinations. The triple has a GVM of better than 100 tonnes. So I am here on this Sunday morning, in Port Augusta, to have a steer of these new outfits.

Just back from the Volvo FMX release at Werribee in Victoria (yesterday). While the weather was against the organisation of the event it gave a few of us a chance to bash around in the new trucks in some pretty slushy conditions. I knocked together a short video for the Truckin’ Life website:

Anyway the trucks handled well and I’m sure Volvo will extend the traditional FM market into construction, medium haulage mining and severe off-highway work.

There’s something about a couple of blokes on the road together, the various waves of temperament that can make either wish for his own company mixed with long stretches of enjoyable yarning and interspersed with periods of watching the miles roll by, lost in revery, memory and thought.

I’ve known Bob McMillan for a long time. Met him in the first half of the 80′s. He is, in my opinion, the definitive owner driver. He has had a long career as a one truck operator. Not only one truck but one trailer – up until this month at least. I’m just back to Sydney after doing a run with him, with a load of Innisfail bananas down through Outback Queensland and NSW to Adelaide. A few metres short of 3,000 clicks.

Couple of old blokes talking about the old days? Well no. We both might have hit the 60 mark but it doesn’t feel old. Sure old mates and old times probably got a run on the way south, but Bob MacMillan is a bloke who firmly resides in the 21st Century. Bob has an astute and considered view of the transport industry and hasn’t been afraid to step on a few toes when necessary.

Well southward we ran. Following the Outback track, a better way according to Bob. We slept for at least six hours at night and still made Adelaide in time for a decent feed at Cavan and a night’s sleep before Bob had to unload at the markets Sunday morning – yesterday!

I’m back in the Office and Bob will have taken a load of Territory mangoes from Adelaide to Melbourne and no doubt be lining up a load of some sort to get him back to FNQ.

Keep an eye out for the yarn – Going Bush, a Better Way – early in 2012. And thanks Bob for a mighty fine few days traveling together.