“THERE is a little piece of Peterlee in every part of the world.”

It’s an interesting claim, but Phil Handley hasn’t got his geography totally awry.

In fact, his statement is more than a valid one.

Mr Handley is managing director at Caterpillar’s Peterlee articulated truck plant.

Thousands of huge heavy-duty vehicles roll off its production line every year.

From sub-zero temperatures in the Arctic to oppressive heat in the Sahara, the trucks are built to tackle and overcome the toughest terrains.

And they all come from its east Durham factory.

The site was founded in the early 1970s when engineer David Brown set up business using Caterpillar powertrain components and employed about 30 people.

Evolving to become known as Artix, its products were badged as Caterpillar, and in 1996, it became 100 per cent Caterpillar-owned.

However, the firm, which has more than 500 sites around the world, hasn’t forgotten those UK roots.

As you enter the factory, opposite its gatehouse stands an old Brown articulated truck.

Resplendent in yellow, it is positioned as if tackling challenging ground, a nod to the agility for which the company is famous.

Caterpillar found it in Wales, where another company had been using it, and where, Mr Handley tells me, its driver had a real feel for the controls.

This touch apparently extended to its brakes, which were past their factory best, with the man behind the wheel adept at coming off the accelerator at the right time to keep it in check.

My own journey into the company’s history and successes starts a little closer to home, on the A19 in fact, as a bottle green wagon passes me travelling in the direction of Teesside.

Towering above the cab, its Caterpillar truck cargo stands securely fastened to its trailer.

At a roundabout close to the company’s plant, the scene is repeated again.

The firm is thriving, with the Peterlee plant home to more than 1,000 staff.

Inside its sprawling site, and guided by Mr Handley, I watch as sparks fizz from a welding hub as staff in blue overalls fashion scores of parts.

Nearby, a huge press bends and shapes sheets of steel, readying it to eventually become part of a truck’s body.

The bustling scene continues further down the production line as chassis development and more robot welding winds its way to the paintwork section.

Here, the company’s recognised yellow colouring is applied.

The huge mechanical structures are coming to life.

“Somewhere out there, there are parts of our team’s work they can take pride from”, says Mr Handley.

“There is a little piece of Peterlee in every part of the world.

“This factory is very significant for the company and the region.

“We are the only Caterpillar factory that makes these products; we are the only one in the world.

“Our trucks are used in multiple sectors and operate in severe conditions, from -40C in Arctic tundra to 40C in sand in the Sahara.

“They go through a whole width of uses so they must have that out of the box quality and be able to run and run.”

Turning again, we walk to another section of the plant, where a dump body, the part used to carry loads, is tilted on its side by a vast machine to carry out more welding.

Further along, two men, again wearing royal blue boilersuits and guarded by safety protection, scrape away to remove any blemishes on a similar structure and ensure a smooth finish.

Leaving them behind, we come to the accustomed vision of Caterpillar’s giant marauding trucks that prowl quarries and mining developments.

Engines and hoods are fitted, cabs and specialist parts are refined, and the chunky wheels are added.

The tyres are huge and far outstrip the workforce alongside them for size, appearing like something you would expect a competitor to throw around in a strongman competition.

The company says it uses 35,000 tonnes of steel every year to help make its trucks, and Mr Handley tells me he could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the same time frame with the oil and fluids needed to send the truck’s on their way.

He also points to its successes around the world, which means the machinery standing idle in front of me could one day be used anywhere across the globe.

He said: “You see them around the world and more than 90 per cent of our trucks are exported.

“Some are in Brazil on a hydro-electric dam project; there are more than 50 in Egypt working on the Suez Canal, and there are over 300 in Panama on a canal scheme too.

“Our trucks are very versatile and we have captured a third of the market.

“Caterpillar as a company also continues to invest in machinery and research and development to maintain that.”

Last year, the company was galvanised by a fresh deal to make new articulated dump trucks and bare-chassis models.

Adding to its existing range, they are capable of carrying specialist equipment, such as water tanks and spray systems.

Whatever it makes, however, will always go through a rigorous testing system to ensure its high standards are kept to keep it in front of rivals, such as Volvo, John Deere and Komatsu.

That process involves a track at the factory and extends to a quarry at Cornforth, near Ferryhill, County Durham.

The way Mr Handley describes the latter conjures images of freestyle skiers navigating a steep course littered with testing bumps, known as moguls.

Their sharp and unrelenting contours, which give participants a particularly hard time, are more than an adequate way to describe some of the environments Caterpillar’s trucks must overcome.

The quarry is close to the A1, with a tunnel linking the site underneath the busy route.

It’s also a site Caterpillar’s rivals have cast enviable glances upon.

Mr Handley said: “The quarry is an endurance area.

“It’s like an obstacle course for the trucks, and has tests like moguls so we can see just how the cab and the dump body respond to the movement.

“Customers can also watch what’s happening too.

“Quality and reliability are paramount for us, so the quarry is a very important site in helping us achieve that.”

Another area the company focuses on is apprenticeships and has a commitment to helping youngsters.

It has a learning centre and works with the Sunderland AFC Foundation, with its advanced apprenticeship programme previously accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Mr Handley added: “Apprentices are very important for Caterpillar and the UK as a whole to compete globally.

“The learning centre came in at the height of the recession, which emphasises our commitment.

“We need the skills and the knowledge to tackle the competition and re-balance the economy.

“As a former apprentice, I know where they are coming from.

“We have 37 and they are right across the business, and they do things outside the plant too, including a team as part of the Brathay Trust, who worked on a garden project at Howletch Lane Primary School, in Peterlee.”

As I leave the site and drive back down the A19, a familiar sight creeps into view.

It’s another distinctive yellow truck taking a ride on the back of another bottle green wagon’s trailer.

I pass it, only to look in my mirror shortly afterwards to see the truck heading off in another direction, ready to play its own unique role in continuing Caterpillar’s global journey.