ULSD Scarcity Prompts OEMs to Help Fuel Fleet Engine Tests

AS VEGAS — Engine maker Caterpillar Inc. said it is subsidizing the cost of ultra-low-sulfur diesel to customers testing its 2007 engines and delivering it directly because the fuel is scarce and costs much more than regular fuel.

“Refineries are having difficulty meeting the governmentally mandated deadline to make ULSD available to the industry in total,” Jim McReynolds, general manager of Cat’s on-highway and power systems unit, told Transport Topics last week.

Other engine manufacturers also said they were making special arrangements to get ULSD to fleets that need it for testing the new engines, which must meet the tightened government emission standards that go into effect with the ’07 models.