Following Navistar’s announcement last week that the company was heading in a new direction for meeting both current and upcoming federal emissions standards, School Transportation News has learned that school bus customers will also eventually see a new engine that combines the best of both Advanced EGR and SCR emissions reduction technologies.
In-Cylinder Technology Plus (ICT+) incorporates the company’s Advance Exhaust Generation Reduction platform currently found in the MaxxForce 7 and MaxxForce DT but adds urea-based aftertreatment. Navistar is running out of engine credits for its truck engines to meet the current EPA emissions requirements for reduced oxides of nitrogren (NOx).
A company spokesperson told STN that Navistar’s engine credits strategy positions the company to continue selling its MaxxForce 7 and MaxxForce DT medium-duty diesel engines because they comply with current EPA emissions regulations. The company, along with other engine manufacturers, faces stricter greenhouse gas emissions requirements in 2014 and 2017. The spokeswoman also said the new ICT+ strategy gives Navistar “a solid plan moving forward.”
In an open letter to the industry being published in media outlets next month, John McKinney, president of Navistar Global Bus, explains that the immediate focus is on transitioning big-bore engines for International trucks but states that the company is also forming a technology transition for medium-duty engines that power the IC Bus models. There was no timetable given for the latter.
He adds that there are no immediate implications for customers using MaxxForce 7 and MaxxForce DT engines as those engines meet all current federal and state requirements and that no interruptions in manufacturing and selling buses are expected during the transition to ICT+.
