It’s the most successful product development program in Caterpillar’s history. And it’s been a long journey to get here – to Tier 4 Final.
“We’ve gone from no emissions regulations 18 years ago to near zero emissions today,” said Matthew Delzell, marketing and sales support supervisor in Caterpillar’s Technical Sales group.
While Tier 4 is a U.S. emissions regulation, it’s been replicated throughout other areas of the world.
“Canada, Japan, European Union - they’ve all implemented parallel regulations that really focus on reduction of particulate matter and NOX output of the engine,” said Delzell.
Not only is Caterpillar meeting the new emissions standards, but we also improved fuel economy – a true accomplishment. How do we know? Our customers tell us these are proven, high quality machines that are highly fuel efficient.
“We’ve got over 100,000 units in the field right now with well over 60 million hours in customers’ hands,” said Delzell. “Customers are really excited about the reliability, the fact they’ve got great power. Productivity has increased, fuel consumption has decreased. Really good news going to the customers’ bottom line.”
Another thing Caterpillar customers like about their Tier 4 Final machines can be summed up in one word: simple.
“It’s automatic, it’s transparent. The customer doesn’t have to worry about it. The operator doesn’t need a bunch of extra training.”
Tier 4 final implementation began in 2013 and will continue in the remainder of our product line over the next few years as the emissions regulations phase into effect. Several of the products on the CONEXPO-CON/AGG floor are Tier 4 machines. Innovation that might not be visible by simply looking at the yellow iron, but innovation that delivers great fuel economy, offsets customer costs and provides benefits far beyond emissions compliance.
