Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=CAT)) is a United States based corporation headquartered in Peoria, Illinois. Caterpillar is, according to their corporate website, "the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines."

Famous for their products featuring the caterpillar track, Caterpillar produces a wide range of heavy equipment, mainly engineering vehicles, including the Caterpillar D9 bulldozer.

Caterpillar is one of the companies whose stock is tracked in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Caterpillar was one of the "excellent" companies featured in the 1982 best-selling management book In Search of Excellence by business management guru Tom Peters.

History

Caterpillar was formed in 1925 with the merger of Holt Manufacturing Company with the C. L. Best Tractor Company, forming the Caterpillar Tractor Company. Holt Manufacturing had earlier pioneered the use of the caterpillar track during World War I.

In recent years, Caterpillar has also been a brand of clothing, particularly shoes and boots.

Controversies

Israeli use of Caterpillar

A coalition of groups is calling on people to protest Caterpillar's sales of D9, D10, and D11 bulldozers to Israel. They cite:

• the use of Caterpillar equipment to demolish Palestinian homes, "leaving more than 50,000 people homeless";
• the use of Caterpillar equipment to "uproot 200,000 Palestinian olive trees", on which many Palestinians rely for their livelihoods;
• the use of Caterpillar D9s to destroy "an entire neighborhood in the Jenin refugee camp"
• the death of American International Solidarity Movement volunteer Rachel Corrie, who was killed while trying to obstruct the demolition of a home in Rafah by a Caterpillar D9.
• Caterpillar's "profits from" the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.

For a more detailed discussion of Israeli use of Caterpillar bulldozers, see Caterpillar D9.

External links

• Caterpillar.com (http://www.caterpillar.com/)

Links regarding involvement in Israel

• Stop Caterpillar (http://www.catdestroyshomes.org), a website run by Jewish Voice for Peace to promote the case against allowing Caterpillar products in Israel
• Letter to Caterpillar CEO James Owens (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/22/isrlpa9706.htm), from Human Rights Watch, calling on Caterpillar to cease sales of the D9 to Israel
• Shareholder resolution press release (http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/press/releases/release112204.html), from Jewish Voice for Peace, about a shareholder resolution asking Caterpillar to investigate whether sales its equipment to Israel violate the company's Code of Worldwide Business Conduct (PDF, 2.2MB) (http://www.cat.com/cda/components/securedFile/displaySecuredFileServletJSP?fileId=89709&languageId=7)