December 20, 2002 10:00 AM, EST

Engine Fight Stalls Truck Buying Plans

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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>The new year broke with a long dawn for truck buyers who were only beginning to recognize that as of Oct. 1, original equipment manufacturers would be selling over-the-road power units equipped with new — and for the truckers, unknown and untried — diesel engines.

Trucking and its allies devoted much of 2002 to trying to convince the Environmental Protection Agency to roll back a deadline for cleaner engines that already had been rolled forward. The requests went unheeded.

As the reality sank in, many fleets ordered new trucks ahead of normal replacement schedules in order to avoid the Oct. 1 engines, thus bringing a new term — "pre-buy" — and a mid-year surge in sales to truck and engine makers.

For the full story, and the rest of the 2002 Year in Review, see the Dec. 23 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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