Caterpillar Inc. recently received The International Pipeline and Offshore Contractors Association (IPLOCA) Environmental Award for its "Eco Operator Training" program. Cat Eco Operator Training is a one-day program designed to teach operators how to run equipment to maximize fuel efficiency and lower emissions while maintaining high productivity. The program can assist customers in realizing fuel savings up to 20 percent in some applications.

"Smart companies do more with less — more productivity with less fuel,” said Dan Macholan, general manager, Caterpillar Global Pipeline. “This course is fundamental in our strategy to help customers make efficient use of the world's natural resources and reduce unnecessary impacts on people and the environment."

The award, sponsored by Shell, is in recognition of a significant achievement in reducing the impact on the environment for the construction of pipeline projects. The criteria for the award are:

• The project focuses on the behaviors of operators.
• The project is designed to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
• The project illustrates very clearly and simply the way diesel fuel converts to carbon emitted into the environment.
• The project benefits owners and users of heavy plant machinery, not the manufacturers.
• It teaches skills applicable to all types and manufacturers of plants.

Headquartered in Geneva, IPLOCA has 225 members in more than 40 countries. It provides its members a forum for sharing ideas, engaging the industry and its stakeholders, facilitating business opportunities and promoting the highest standards in the pipeline industry.