Tractor-trailers are a common sight on the world’s roadways, ferrying everything from food to industrial machinery to eager customers around the globe. Sharp-eyed drivers are probably familiar with brands like Mack and Freightliner, but there’s one company behind some other major brands you might not be aware of. PACCAR owns Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF.
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The brand has a history going all the way back to 1905, when William Pigott Sr. established the Seattle Car Manufacturing Company to build railway cars to haul logs. The company soon expanded its operations to make wooden rail cars for other purposes, but a fire destroyed the company’s plant in August of 1907. However, the company rebounded quickly, building new plants in Oregon and California in 1909.
In 1917, Pigott joined forces with Portland-based Twohy Brothers to form the Pacific Car and Foundry Company. That company purchased Kenworth in 1945 and picked up Peterbilt and Dart in 1958. The company rebranded as PACCAR in 1972 and its engine division now makes motors for Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. Kenworth and Peterbilt have joined the green trucking movement, and PACCAR unveiled a few new electric trucking technologies at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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PACCAR has steadily expanded throughout its more than 100 years in operation
Soon after the company took on the PACCAR name, it established new divisions to handle parts sales and truck leasing and rental. In 1981, PACCAR acquired Foden Trucks in Sandbach, England, and the following year, the company opened a new technical center near the Skagit Regional Airport about an hour’s drive north of Seattle. Later in the decade, PACCAR’s Automotive division acquired Al’s Auto Supply and Grand Auto, Inc., two well-established West Coast parts suppliers.
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The company has steadily expanded over time. PACCAR invested in its European presence by purchasing Netherlands-based DAF Trucks in 1996 and Leyland Trucks of Lancashire, England in 1998. In October of 1999, PACCAR also sold its automotive division to CSK Auto, which was purchased by O’Reilly Automotive in 2019 for an even $1 billion.
PACCAR has continued to expand in the 21st century. In 2010, the company released its MX series of engines, which are built in a $400 million facility in Columbus, Mississippi. Three years later, the company opened a $320 million plant in Punta Grossa, Brazil to help serve its South American customers. Finally, the PACCAR Silicon Valley Innovation center in Sunnyvale, California opened in 2017 to focus on new technologies.
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