An Open Letter to the RV Industry

[DriVer]

November 18, 2010

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE RV INDUSTRY

Dear Business Partners and Customers:

During the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has focused its efforts on reducing the amount of emissions diesel engines release into the atmosphere to achieve cleaner air and a cleaner environment. OEMs, working with the EPA, have risen to the challenge, developing engines that emit nearly zero emissions. The most recent, and for now, the final round of regulations went into effect Jan. 1, 2010, requiring engine manufacturers to implement solutions to significantly reduce the ejection of soot, ash and nitrous oxide (NOx) into the air.

For more information please open the attachment ....

[rops]

First let me say I do not have a dog in this fight.

However as a consumer and someone that has worn out a lot of diesel engines and knows how expensive repairs are, I would never buy any engine I had to pay more money up front than fuel savings over the life of the engine will be without considering the cost of maintaining the (scr) equipment over it's life time. I do not know, but have heard some price increases due to scr that rival the previous cost of diesel engines.

I think simpler is better and cheaper over the long haul. As time goes on I think what I have predicted will come true. The SCR system will not be a long term solution.

I personally would prefer the Navistar solution. I noticed Caterpillar did also, and they had a dog in the fight.

Just my two cents worth and it isn't worth that much to most people.

rops

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rops I personally would prefer the Navistar solution. I noticed Caterpillar did also, and they had a dog in the fight.

Rops, Although CAT did field technology called ACERT, it never met the 2010 Diesel Emissions requirements.

The Workhorse R-Series was powered by a CAT C7 using ACERT. I don't believe that I can name many other chassis manufacturers that adopted the C7's ACERT technology. ACERT was available in the 2007-2008 model year.

As we all know CAT is out of the "over the road" engine business and does not supply an engine to the RV or OTR Trucking Industry.

[rops]

Caterpillars choice and the SCR choice I was speaking of is that Caterpillar is supplying the 15L block and Navistar is supplying the head and fuel system for what will be the Navistar 15L engine for over the road use. Caterpillar is choosing to use the Navistar solution to sell their 15L block etc. They must have liked what they saw and gauged to be a good business move for them. It was slated to be available late 2010.

rops

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rops They must have liked what they saw and gauged to be a good business move for them. It was slated to be available late 2010.

Rops, I have not heard that CAT wants to get back into the OTR business. Personally I would welcome another engine option.

I heard the webinar where Navistar and Caterpillar spoke about their LOA going on some 2 years ago. At that time the BIG block option for Navistar (International Trucks) was going to be a Cummins. Getting a CAT 15L block with Navistar heads and fuel system has got to be a good move for both companies. The business model that was described during the webinar if currently in place opens up a lot of new business opportunities for both CAT and Navistar.

I do miss seeing a CAT {probably not likely under the name of CAT} in an RV and so do many other folks. A Navistar MaxxForce 15L OTR engine running AEGR will gain a lot of attention from the chassis builders.



MaxxForce15 & Caterpillar C15

These engines were observed by Industry writers as "remarkably similar"

[rops]

Hello,

I have a couple articles about Cat and Navistar that are interesting.

Caterpillar, Navistar confirm alliance | Trucking Magazine Covering Business News, Fleet Management, Technology, and Equipment

Navistar MaxxForce (Cat) 15-Liter Is Back For 2010 - And The Full Squeeze Is On Cummins - GLG News

Commercial Engines | Navistar On-Highway Engines | MaxxForce Diesel Engines

The last link gives the engine specs on the Navistar Maxforce engines including the 15L I have alluded to.

Best Regards,

rops

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rops Hello, I have a couple articles about Cat and Navistar that are interesting. Navistar MaxxForce (Cat) 15-Liter Is Back For 2010 - And The Full Squeeze Is On Cummins - GLG News

In regard to the above article;

"Navistar’s all Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) approach is continuing by extending the life of the Cat C-15 in the US - but as a private brand. This makes sense for Navistar and not a real costly one to implement - but with a potentially very good short-term payback and time to integrate the option for the future. The C-15 engine is currently engineered into the Navistar applications - and emission credits will be utilized as with the other models offered in 2010."

Although I don't know how the emission credits work exactly I know there was early on pursuit of SCR however I believe that's not in the game plan for 2011 and beyond.

I think the writer missed the boat but of course the piece was written in Jan of 2009. Navistar is not going down the SCR route with any of its engines as far as I know.

It going to be a BIG deal for Navistar when they introduce an EGR 15L MaxxForce OTR engine.