10 fun facts about Caterpillar

The name Caterpillar is perhaps synonymous with quality construction machinery, with its iconic yellow equipment found in every corner of the globe.

While Caterpillar was founded just under 100 years ago, its origins date back to the late 1800s and the company has lived through two World Wars.

Today, it manufactures a massive range of machinery catering to every task imaginable in the heavy industries including construction, mining, quarrying and more.

But how much do you really know about the brand? We did some digging (pun intended) to find a handful of fun facts about the company that you might not know.

There are two main variations of the company’s name – Caterpillar and Cat, but do you know how it initially got its name? As you might have presumed, it is named after the insect.

Back in 1905, Caterpillar co-founder, Benjamin Holt, was out on the field testing his first tracked steam tractor accompanied by his nephew and a photographer. The photographer, Charlie Clements, was expecting to see a traditional wheeled machine but instead saw an unusual piece of machinery slowly creeping along the field on tracks and exclaimed: “If that don’t look like a monster caterpillar!”

That remark stuck and while it was reported that Benjamin Holt initially did not like that name, his family convinced him otherwise and the name was officially registered and trademarked in 1910.

Fact source: Caterpillar

Speaking of which, one of Holt’s greatest inventions was the crawler tractor, much to the delight and amusement of Clements and the agricultural community.

At a time when horses were predominantly used to farm, Holt invented a steam tractor with wheels that went on to deliver significant time and cost savings for farmers. However, in certain types of soil, especially those in California, Holt’s wheeled steam tractor would sink. This led to Holt installing tracks on his tractors and hence, the first ‘Caterpillar’ machine was born.

Fact source: Caterpillar

While Caterpillar is known for its bright yellow colour scheme across all its machinery ranges, it hasn’t always been this way.

Before the 1930s, all Caterpillar machines were painted ‘battleship gray’ and featured the Caterpillar logo in red which sports a wavy shape, resembling its namesake animal.

In 1931, the company determined its machines needed to be brighter in colour for better visibility on road construction sites, and decided to update its paint scheme from gray to ‘hi-way yellow’.

Over 40 years later, in 1979, Caterpillar once again updated its paint scheme to a different hue of yellow but just as bright as the last, named ‘Caterpillar Yellow’.

Fact source: Caterpillar

4. Caterpillar Yellow is trademarked

Following on from the last tidbit, Caterpillar has trademarked everything to do with its company branding, from the name to the logo and even the Caterpillar Yellow shade that is used to paint its equipment.

The move is similar to how retail giant Target has trademarked its signature Target red shade and John Deere has trademarked the green and yellow colour combo. With colour trademarks, competitor companies are barred from using the exact shade of colour in their logos or paint schemes to avoid confusion within the market.

In Caterpillar’s case, other construction machinery manufacturers are effectively barred from using the Caterpillar Yellow shade in any company branding or paint schemes.

SEE ALSO: 10 fun facts about John Deere

5. Over 4 million Caterpillar machines are in use around the world

According to Caterpillar’s most recent fact sheet (based on year-end 2021 data), there are currently over 4 million pieces of Cat equipment at use around the globe, including discontinued products.

This includes its construction and mining machinery line, as well as engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.

While Caterpillar is headquartered in the US, 62 per cent of the company’s sales and revenue are outside the US. In 2021, sales and revenue of the company topped $51 billion.

Fact source: Caterpillar

6. Caterpillar makes other stuff too, like phones

While Caterpillar specialises in equipment for the heavy industries, the company has diversified over the years to include its own range of associated products and accessories, such as workwear and phones.

Caterpillar has its own branded workwear for both men and women, as well as safety footwear. But perhaps more interestingly, it has its own brand of work phones, designed specifically for heavy industry workers.

In addition to being extremely durable to withstand harsh conditions or falls, the Cat phones offer several cool features such as thermal imaging (only available on selected models) to help workers quickly identify issues on worksites such as heat loss around windows and doors; moisture and missing insulation; over-heating electrical appliances and circuitry and more.

Fact source: Caterpillar

7. There’s a whole Caterpillar wonderland in the USA

For fans of the Caterpillar brand or construction machinery in general, Caterpillar’s visitor centre and museum in Peoria, Illinois, is the perfect place to spend a day out.

The centre is open to everyone to visit for a small admission fee and includes plenty of educational exhibits and interactive features to keep the entire family occupied. Every patron’s visit will begin with a virtual ride in the bed of a massive two-and-a-half story Cat 797F Mining Truck.

Visitors have the opportunity to learn about the history of the company, see the evolution of the company’s machines, design their very own Cat machine, test their skills on a simulator and climb into a track-type tractor.

Fact source: Caterpillar

8. Helped build some of the most significant infrastructures around the world

With over 100 years of engineering expertise, it is no wonder that Cat machines are highly sought after to build some of the world’s biggest infrastructure.

One of the most prominent projects Caterpillar has been involved in is the Panama Canal - one of the biggest engineering feats in modern history. It cuts through Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and has become one of the most important channels for maritime transport and cuts a trip around South America in half. Over the canal’s 105-year history, Caterpillar’s products have been used to build, maintain and expand the channel.

Other significant projects that Caterpillar played a key role in include the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Fact source: Caterpillar

9. Record breaker

Caterpillar is a company founded on innovation and ambition so it’s hardly surprising that the company has embarked on some unconventional projects to prove a point and to spread the word about how efficient its machines are.

In 2014, Caterpillar kick started a publicity project named Cat Trials, in an attempt to showcase its products and their capabilities in a unique and fun way.

It started with the 'Stack' project in which Caterpillar used a range of its machines to play a giant game of JENGA. Using different equipment and attachments, operators tapped, pulled, lifted, and placed large blocks of wood as per a traditional game of JENGA. As a result, it earned Caterpillar a spot in the Guinness World Records for the largest JENGA game ever played.

Also part of the Cat Trials, Caterpillar was involved in building the world’s largest sandcastle back in 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the help of a team of talented sculptors and some Cat machinery including two Cat 320D hydraulic excavators, a 336D wheel loader and two mini excavators - the 302.5C and 303.5E CR. However, the record has been broken several times since then.

Fact source: Caterpillar and Guinness World Records

10. Space explorer

Even just 10 years ago, it’s hard to imagine earthmoving machines landing on the moon for mining or on another planet like Mars to build future habitats, but with recent advancements in construction technology, it’s looking likelier than ever.

Caterpillar and NASA have enjoyed a longstanding working relationship ever since Caterpillar provided its gensets to power an 18-foot tracking antenna that enabled communications between the crew on Apollo 11 and on the ground in 1969, which in turn allowed for a successful moon landing mission.

Recently, Caterpillar, alongside several other organisations, sponsored NASA’s 3D printed habitat challenge which aims to get people thinking about new ways to design and print a habitat that could be used for deep space exploration.

Caterpillar and NASA were even looking at ways to send autonomous or remote-controlled equipment to the moon for mining purposes, according to a report by CNBC. With Caterpillar being a leading force in autonomous equipment especially with its mining trucks, it might not be long before we see some bright yellow dozers working away on the moon.

Fact source: Caterpillar and CNBC