Her face lights up as she talks about her journey from the assembly line to now working in Facilities Maintenance at CMEP. She’s been part of the RAM team since Cummins’ partnership with the truck maker started 30 years ago.

Brown is not alone. Nineteen other employees have been working on RAM engines since Cummins began producing them in 1989.

Brown is so confident about the engines she has helped build for decades that she’s a RAM customer herself.  She beams with pride as she speaks about the “great pulling power” of her beloved 2004 RAM Dually, the second consecutive RAM truck she’s owned. 

“Every engine has a personality of its own,” said Harold Barnes, a recent retiree who, like Brown, worked on engines for RAM trucks at CMEP over the last three decades. Perhaps the personality of the engines Barnes alludes to comes from the experienced and dedicated hands that bring each engine to life. 

A POWERFUL COMBINATION

Cummins-powered RAM trucks have the DNA of superior technology coupled with decades of dedicated service from the employees who build them – the kind of dedicated service that inspired Brown, Barnes and 18 others to remain committed to CMEP long enough to see the 3 millionth engine roll off the assembly line last month. 

“We are honored these 20 employees have chosen to devote more than 30 years to Cummins,” said Melina Kennedy, Executive Director of Cummins Pickup Truck business. “They, and the whole plant team, are a big-hearted group committed to improving where they live.”

All the employees at CMEP have powered the success of the partnership between Cummins and RAM, which has resulted in engines that break records and set new standards in the pickup industry. 

"Our dedicated employees deserve a huge thank you for their commitment to the success of the engines they produce,” said Nicole Wheeldon, Cummins CMEP Plant Manager. “The excellent reputation for the Cummins engine is a product of their hard work." 

ATTITUDE IS KEY

When asked about his experience working at CMEP for 30 of his 45 years at Cummins, Barnes praised the can-do attitude of his former colleagues, adding that they are always willing to step up and support the success of the plant and customers. 

“The people I worked with always made coming to work, worth it,” Barnes said.

The dedication of CMEP employees is representative of the global Cummins workforce. Employees live the company’s values and ensure Cummins continues to deliver innovative and dependable solutions to power the success of every customer.
 

Drivers Nathan Stuart and Steven Ploog took a wrong turn in their Land Cruisers, re-powered with Cummins crate engines, about 13,000 feet up Mexico’s tallest mountain, the third highest peak in North America, and they were quickly running out of options.

It seemed like such a good idea, climbing to a base camp at 14,000 feet as part of their Clean Cruiser Project from California through Central America and back to demonstrate overlanding, a form of adventuring in four-wheel drive vehicles, could be done in an environmentally sensitive way.

The friends had managed to get past some of the deepest ruts they had ever seen on the way up, but now they were on an out cropping of slippery, shale-like rock with no easy way to turn around without flipping over. Adding to the challenge: each vehicle had a trailer attached with supplies for planting trees to help offset the environmental impact of their trip.

RETREAT TO THE TOP

Slowly and painstakingly, Stuart and Ploog backed up, inch by inch, counting on their engines to provide the torque they needed despite the altitude and rocky trail. Eventually, they reached a place where they could slowly turn and head up the narrow trail they’d found earlier using a drone they had packed for the trip. Upon reaching the base camp, they shared a bottle of wine with those waiting to summit the mountain.

“I can’t emphasize enough how hard we worked those engines,” Stuart said, recalling not just the wrong turn, or the climb up Pico de Orizaba, but the entire 9,000-mile journey from California to Nicaragua and back.

Once they warmed up after a cold night half-way up Pico de Orizaba, the crate engines performed flawlessly on the climb despite the colder, thinner air. Four hours after Ploog and Stuart wore down jackets toasting with others at the base camp at 14,000 feet, they were driving in tropical conditions at sea level. The R2.8 Cummins Turbo Diesel never missed a beat.

Over the course of the trip, tires blew, bearings in the trailer wheels failed, and, in one particularly scary instance, one of the trailers flipped over several times on the road in Nicaragua (thankfully, no one was hurt). But the Cummins crate engines just kept going, through deep ruts, over sand, across streams and in all kinds of weather.

It should be noted the engines were running on bio-diesel, the same B20 mix available at many U.S. service stations. The fuel blend was another step Ploog and Stuart took to reduce their carbon impact. 

HEADING HOME

The trailer flip would prove a salient moment for Stuart, who manages a herd of more than 200 sheep at a California winery, and Ploog an Army veteran, accomplished backpacker and full-time student who took a break to work on the project. 

They had planned to drive through Costa Rica and all the way to Panama. But with their 600 trees planted, and after the various challenges along the way (repairs took much longer in remote areas than they anticipated), as well as some particularly difficult border crossings – one, Stuart said, was like the worst trip to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles you can imagine – they decided to turn back.

Neither man is a professional mechanic and they were grateful the R2.8 Turbo Diesels worked so well. Cummins helped sponsor their trip in part to show that hobbyists could install the new engines and benefit from their clean, dependable power.

The trip home would prove to be the final challenge. Stuart and Ploog were eager to get back after so long on the road. They drove their Land Cruisers at eight and 10 hour stretches, at 65 mph most of the way.

From Mexico City to Texas, across New Mexico and Arizona, and finally back to California, the stretches of desert never seemed to end, always up a gentle incline. Temperatures reached 100 degrees, but the engines never faltered.

“We just wanted to get back to our wives and families,” Stuart said. 

After six weeks on the road starting in mid-May, Ploog and Stuart arrived home. Over time, their memories will focus on the incredible things they saw and the amazing people they met. They truly demonstrated off-road adventuring can be done in a low carbon way.

But now, it’s still difficult to get past all the hard work that went into the trip.

“With all that we faced, it was nice we never had to worry about the engines,” Stuart said.

According to operator, Vincent Torres, “The environment out here changes daily. One day you’re digging in sand and the next day you’re digging in mud. It’s hot, dusty, some days it’s cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon.”

Originally powered by a six-cylinder engine, the 44,000 lb. excavator was repowered with a Cummins B4.5 Performance Series by Cummins South in 2018. This repower increased the horsepower and torque of the engine, while downsizing engine displacement. “I was shocked to find out that it was only a four-cylinder, that’s amazing. To get that much power out of that small of an engine,” said Torres who continued to say “ I would put this Cummins 4.5 against of our 6 cylinders we got…”

In addition to the increase in power and torque, repowering the excavator with the Cummins B4.5 Performance Series took the emissions level from Tier 2 to surpassing Tier 4 final. The addition of the new emissions technology was seamless for the operator.  “Honestly I didn’t know it was there until the fuel guy came and filled it up,” said Torres

Watch the video to hear more about the end-user experience and see the excavator in action.​

The L9N, considered one of the world’s cleanest internal combustion engines, can significantly reduce particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and greenhouse gases (GHGs). The 320-horsepower engine is powering a bus through Santiago, Chile’s capital city, on a  test basis.

“We are proud to present our Cummins L9N gas engine in Chile, which will significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse gases and decontaminating the

city of Santiago,” said Fábio Magrin, General Manager of Cummins Chile. “We endeavor to bring our customers the right power solutions for the work they need to do. The solution found in Chile is in line with our mission to make people’s lives better by powering a more prosperous world.”

GRABBING ATTENTION

The announcement of the Cummins gas-powered bus was attended by the Chilean Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Gloria Hutt, and generated interest from the Chilean news media. Much of the coverage highlighted the engine’s potential to help improve the environment in the country.

“Natural or renewable gas-powered engines can be incredibly clean and efficient,” said Luís Pasquotto, Vice President of Cummins Brazil  and the leader of the company’s engine business in Latin America. “With increasing gas abundance and a mature technology requiring relatively simple infrastructure investment, these engines are a great solution for many customers and markets, including in Latin America.” 

A RECORD OF SUCCESS

Cummins delivers natural gas solutions that are reliable, durable and efficient. The 80,000 Cummins natural gas engines currently in use offer dependable, clean and quiet performance, as well as low emissions, high efficiency, low total fuel costs, and reduced dependence on imported oil.

With 100 years of experience and technology leadership, Cummins innovates for a future with energy diversity and will continue to deliver the right technology at the right time for every customer.