PEORIA, IL - Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today notified 814 production employees at its Mossville, Illinois engine assembly facility that the company would indefinitely lay off those employees. In recent months, production volumes at the Mossville engine facility have decreased significantly. This is primarily related to a decrease in orders for on-highway truck engines made in Mossville, lower demand for engines used in Caterpillar machines and decreased demand for commercial engine applications.

"These decisions are never easy, and we understand these layoffs will create challenges for many of our employees and their families," said Gary Stroup, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for Large Power Systems Division.

Employees impacted by this decision were notified today by Caterpillar and were told that the layoffs would begin on February 23, 2009. In addition, various government agencies and other officials were notified of this decision under the United States Department of Labor's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("IL WARN").

About Caterpillar

For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2007 sales and revenues of $44.958 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services. More information is available at: http://www.cat.com/.

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Certain statements in this release relate to future events and expectations and as such constitute forward-looking statements involving known and unknown factors that may cause actual results of Caterpillar Inc. to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. In this context, words such as "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "should" or other similar words and phrases often identify forward-looking statements made on behalf of Caterpillar. It is important to note that actual results of the company may differ materially from those described or implied in such forward-looking statements based on a number of factors and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, (i) adverse change in general economic conditions; (ii) adverse change in the industries Caterpillar serves including construction, infrastructure, mining, energy, marine and electric power generation; (iii) Caterpillar's ability to manage material, including steel, and freight costs; (iv) Caterpillar's ability to generate cash from operations, secure external funding for its operations and manage its liquidity needs; (v) material adverse change in customers' access to liquidity and capital; (vi) currency exchange or interest rates changes; (vii) political stability; (viii) market acceptance of the company's products and services; (ix) significant changes in the competitive environment; (x) epidemic diseases; (xi) severe change in weather conditions negatively impacting operations; (xii) changes in law, regulations and tax rates; and (xiii) other general economic, business and financing conditions and factors described in more detail in the company's Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 31, 2008. This filing is available on our website at www.cat.com/sec_filings. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

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