A company that aimed to supply the trucking industry with a revolutionary new type of diesel engine has suspended operations.

After buying a plant in Louisiana last summer, the company had hoped to be in full production by March 2001. Rodi said its engine was lighter and smaller than conventional heavy-duty engines, and can operate on four or two cylinders, depending on how much power the driver needs. Founder Byron Spain believed the engine would be particularly attractive to operators of cement, dump and garbage trucks, and those who drive half their trips empty.
According to a notice on its web site, however, the company suspended operations last month. The decision was made due to a number of factors.
"In recent months, [the heavy-duty truck] market has undergone dramatic changes," said the statement. "The declining economy has dropped demand nearly 40 percent, which affected pricing; our competitors each made exclusive agreements with a truck manufacturer, limiting our markets; and the EPA has accelerated the imposition of more stringent exhaust emission rules that require additional development and testing."
As a result, the company shifted its efforts to other markets, such as marine and stationary electrical power generation. But even that wasn't enough to keep the company going, as funding dried up, in large part because of the state of the stock market.
The company did recently receive a patent for its Magnetostrictive Fuel Injector. Rodi plans to "move aggressively" to keep its fuel injector subsidiary, Molectrol, going. Molectrol was formed last fall as a wholly owned subsidiary to develop and market the company's advanced-technology fuel injectors. The design is expected to offer engine operators increased fuel economy and lower emissions than currently available mechanically actuated solenoid-type fuel injectors, according to the company.