Along with Gleaner and Farmall, another brand familiar to farmers is celebrating a 100th anniversary in 2023 — heavy truck manufacturer Kenworth.
As farms have grown substantially in size during the last couple of farming generations, more Class 8 trucks have found homes on Prairie farms. Among them, some models from the Paccar brands, Peterbilt and Kenworth remain popular favourites with many producers because of their handsome and relatively unchanged styling, which has lasted decades.
The W900 Kenworth is one of those favourites.
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Founded in Seattle, Wash., in 1923 by Harry Kent and Edgar Worthington (hence the Kenworth name), the then-small startup company built a grand total of 78 gasoline-powered trucks in the first year, with those rolling off of the line in March.
The company expanded its operation into Canada in 1927, with the first Canadian-built truck, a model J-3 three-ton, rolling out of the Vancouver assembly plant.
The Canadian Kenworth plant eventually moved out to the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, which is where it remained until the “Canadian” Kenworth line was discontinued.
In 1933, Kenworth became the first U.S. truck builder to offer diesel engines as standard equipment. Kenworth also claims several other industry firsts, such as building the first truck for a customer with vertical exhaust stacks, which has since become an industry standard.
Kenworth was also the first to offer an integrated sleeper cab, making separate sleeper boxes available in 1947. Over the years, the company’s product line has included firetrucks, buses and even aircraft tow tractors.
In 1947, Kenworth became a subsidiary of Pacific Car and Foundry, which was later given the abbreviated name Paccar.
Since those early days, Kenworth has built approximately 1.3 million trucks. Its current lineup includes Class 5 to Class 8 models along with the extreme duty C500 6X6, which can handle up to an incredible one million pounds gross combination weight rating.
Throughout 2023, the Kenworth website (kenworth.com) will include the Kenworth100 page. It will include historical images and videos along with interviews of Kenworth employees and customers, each highlighting several interesting stories about the evolution of the brand.
Owners can also post their own stories revolving around the brand’s trucks on social media using #Kenworth100.
Also, as part of its celebration, the brand is offering a line of 100th anniversary merchandise that will appeal to Kenworth enthusiasts.
The merchandise line includes the usual caps and apparel along with wall and appointment calendars that feature full-page images of Kenworth trucks throughout the company’s build history.
Those items can be purchased through a local Kenworth dealer or ordered directly from the company by phone. The Canadian call number is 425-659-3581. The anniversary items will be displayed on the Shop Kenworth 100 web page.
