Peoria, IL-based Caterpillar, a truck-engine manufacturer, is seeing higher demand for its engines during the fourth quarter.

The company said in a release Friday that the engine market was still volatile following new EPA regulations that went into effect Oct. 1. Those regulations require truck engines to produce much lower emissions than were previously allowed.

Sales of older engines surged before the Oct. 1 deadline, Reuters news service reported, and orders for new engines had fallen off after that date.

But Richard L. Thompson, group president with Caterpillar, said in a statement, "We are seeing strong market acceptance for our new low-emissions engine models."

"While the North American trucking industry has experienced a significant drop in post-Oct. 1, 2002, sales, our customers continue to demonstrate high confidence" in the company's products, he said.

Caterpillar is producing what the company calls "bridge" engines, which come closer to meeting the standards than older engines, but fall short of the EPA's goals. Caterpillar indicated it would have a new engine that meets standards by early next year and would pay fines levied by EPA before that date.

The company's statement said increased fourth-quarter sales would reduce layoffs planned for its Mossville, IL, Pontiac, IL, Jefferson, GA, and Thomasville, GA, plants. Many employees will not be laid off at all, the company said, and others will face shorter layoffs as a result of the sales increase. However, the company did not reveal specific numbers involved.