The trucks will be made at the Caterpillar plant in Decatur, Ill.

Most of the product will be exported to Caterpillar plants all around the world.

His grandmother was hired at a local Caterpillar plant solely to play for the company's softball team.

Only the 2,000 strikers at the Caterpillar plant in Decatur are still getting full strike benefits from the United Automobile Workers, $ 300 a week.

The Caterpillar plant on the city's north side closed, causing the loss of employment for many residents.

There are 16,000 U.A.W. members at seven Caterpillar plants in the United States.

The road continues north past the Caterpillar, Inc. plant in Montgomery to meet U.S. Route 30 at the Kane/Kendall County line.

Those offers were coming to welders and machinists at a Caterpillar plant in Aurora, Ill., a suburb of Chicago where earth graders for highway construction are made.

Indeed, many striking workers here and at other Caterpillar plants had planned to cross the picket line if an agreement was not reached within about a week.

"Their inventory window has become so narrow that they've had to shift some of their production to Caterpillar plants in Japan and Europe," Mr. Stark said.