Diesel engine makers hope to enlist the help of truck manufacturers as they seek to postpone a requirement to produce cleaner engines by October 2002.

Caterpillar Inc., with a little help from the Environmental Protection Agency, could be holding a strong hand in the high stakes game of engine development.

The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to let six diesel engine makers install pollution-control shutoff equipment on their 2002 engines, three years after imposing more than $1 billion in penalties on the manufacturers for using similar “defeat devices” to beat clean air tests.

Environmental groups and industry representatives met last week and urged the Bush administration not to change the low-sulfur rule for diesel fuel, according to Frank O’Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust.

U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who just took over as chairman of the House Transportation Committee, tells Transport Topics that he plans to attack congestion in the transportation system that hinders truck deliveries and other freight movements.

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is considering a truck driver pilot program from the Truckload Carriers Association that would put 18- to 21-year-olds behind the wheel.

Capping a two-nation research effort that began eight years ago, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is putting the finishing touches on its proposed North American Cargo Securement Standard, intended to bring uniformity to regulations governing the way cargo is secured to truck trailers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.