The final generation of diesel truck engines manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. has generated yet another civil lawsuit, this one filed by Minnesota carrier Scenic Boundaries Trans Inc.
The Sandstone-based company said in a court filing with that it had purchased at least six trucks with engines made by Caterpillar in 2007.
The carrier said the engine were “defective in material and/or workmanship causing the vehicle to not function as required under all operating conditions on a consistent and reliable basis — even after repeated emissions warranty repairs and replacements.”
Scenic Boundaries filed its suit U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on April 30.
Caterpillar sold 13- and 15-liter truck Acert — or advanced-combustion, emission-reduction technology— engines to meet the January 2007 Environmental Protection Agency standards.
That was the year most engine makers started using diesel particulate filters and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel in order to meet tighter standards on particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions.
“As a general practice, we do not comment on pending litigation,” Caterpillar spokeswoman Barbara Cox said May 12.
Cat stopped making North American truck engines after 2009 when EPA tightened standards yet again. Some of the engines made in 2009 were sold as part of trucks marketed to fleets in 2010.
Caterpillar has been sued by other fleet customers over the 2007-2009 engines, and those cases are in progress.
