ORRVILLE, OH—Morgan Truck Body, a manufacturer of light- and medium-duty truck bodies, is opening a new manufacturing facility here with the capability to produce a combined 4,000 dry freight and refrigerated truck bodies for retail and fleet customers annually. Morgan expects to employ 140 team members at the facility.
Before the availability of electric lights, early automobiles were equipped with gas lamps for headlights and oil lamps for taillights. Electric lights did not become commonplace until the 1920s.
With nearly a century of experience manufacturing trucks, it's no surprise that Kenworth is one of PACCAR's most successful arms. Kenworth, along with fellow PACCAR brand Peterbilt, achieved a record 30.7 percent of retail market share for Class 8 trucks in the U.S. and Canada in 2017, up from 28.5 percent in 2016.
Trucks moved roughly 71 percent of the nation's freight by weight in 2016, according to the American Trucking Association. That's 10.55 billion tons of freight or $738.9 billion in gross freight revenue. To move all that stuff around, some 34 million trucks logged more than 450 billion miles.
At the recent Geneva Motor Show, vehicle electrification was a leading topic of conversation. While automakers aren’t giving up on the good-old internal combustion engine just yet, they’re investing billions of dollars to develop fully electric systems that are reliable, safe and cost-effective to assemble.
DEARBORN, MI—Exactly 100 years ago today—July 27, 1917— the first Ford Model TT truck rolled out of the assembly plant, beginning an American love affair with pickups that still burns hot.
MCKINNEY, TX—Truck manufacturer PACCAR is planning to build a new assembly plant here. The project represents a capital investment of more than $20 million and is expected to create 200 local jobs.
LITTLE FALLS, MN---Indiana-based Wabash National, which makes high-test, lightweight truck trailers, recently acquired the just-shuttered Larson Boat plant here and plans to invest $11 million to renovate and equip the facility. The company hopes to employ 70 people by 2019 and 100 or more within five years.
