For an unprecedented sixth time, a heavy-duty truck engine from Caterpillar Inc. has received a prestigious award for customer satisfaction in the 2006 Heavy Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Customer Satisfaction Survey.

International marketing information firm J.D. Power and Associates awarded Caterpillar's C-12 clean power engine its highest levels of customer satisfaction, saying that Caterpillar in particular has done an excellent job in meeting the challenge of the new emission standards by creating its own innovative emission technology and that their success is clearly evident in how satisfied customers are with their engines.

Caterpillar's C-12 engine won the award in the "Vocational" category, which includes trucks used in demanding applications such as construction, refuse hauling and utility services. This year's study was based on interviews with 2,529 customers who own two-year-old Class 8 trucks (weighing 33,000 pounds or more). It measures customer satisfaction in four areas of engine performance: engine quality, engine performance, engine cost of ownership and engine warranty.

The C-12 utilizes the building blocks of Caterpillar ACERT Technology, which is a long-term solution that reduces emissions at the point of combustion without sacrificing engine performance and reliability. A systems approach to emissions reduction, it relies on advanced technologies in four key areas: improved air management, precision combustion technology, advanced engine electronics and a simple after-treatment process.