Judge Nixes Truckers' Engine Suit

January 31, 2000 9:08 AM, EST

North America’s largest makers of diesel engines dodged a legal bullet as a federal judge in California threw out a lawsuit filed by truckers unhappy with the emissions settlement negotiated with the Environmental Protection Agency.

An attorney for the truckers minimized the importance of the ruling and vowed to appeal.

The lawsuit claimed the owners of trucks would be the ones paying for the $1 billion deal that Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Engine Co., Detroit Diesel Corp., Mack Trucks, Navistar International and Volvo Truck Corp. signed in October 1998 with the EPA and the Department of Justice to settle alleged cheating on emissions tests.

As part of the deal, most of the manufacturers agreed to pay for the retrofit of old engines and record environmental fines, and to meet stricter emissions standards with their next engine models.

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