Freightliner Semi Tractors

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Freightliner LLC is a manufacturer of heavy duty trucks, chassis and semi-trailer trucks. The company is part of Daimler AG. The company is known mainly for the heavy duty class 8 diesel trucks that it produces, as well as class 5-7 trucks. As of 2005 Freightliner was the largest manufacturer of heavy duty trucks in North America with annual earnings of over $17 billion (2005 est.) and over 22,000 employees (including Detroit Diesel). Due to the fact that Freightliner LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler, a non American corporation, it is not included in Fortune 500 rankings. Were it to be ranked however it would list as the 125th largest company in America based on the criterion used in said ranking.

In the 1930s, Consolidated Freightways decided to produce their own truck line out of reconstructed Fageols, after finding that most existing heavy trucks did not have sufficient power to climb the steep grades found in the mountain regions of the western United States. The trucks were branded "Freightliners", with the first units produced in Consolidated Freightways' maintenance facility in Salt Lake City ca. 1942. After production was interrupted during WWII, manufacturing began again, in CF's home of Portland, OR. The first truck sold outside of Consolidated Freightways went to fork lift manufacturer Hyster, also based in Portland. Today, that truck is in the Smithsonian collection in Washington, D.C.

Lacking distribution capability, and seeking higher volume to reduce production costs, CF entered into an agreement to sell their trucks through the White Motor Company, of Cleveland, OH, and their dealer network in the U.S. and Canada. This relationship would endure for the next quarter century, and the co-branded "White Freightliner" high cab-over-engine models became a familiar sight on the highways across the continent, far from its roots in the Pacific Northwest.

Manufacturing began in Burnaby, B.C., in 1961, to reduce the duty penalty on the complete vehicles sold in Canada. Assembly plants in Indianapolis and Chino, CA, complemented the main plant on Swan Island in Portland, serving the U.S. market. In 1969, an all-new assembly plant was opened on North Basin St., about a mile from the older building, which in turn was converted to exclusively produce parts for production.

White Motor Company became troubled in the 1970s, expansion into white goods and agricultural equipment consumed capital without producing a return, and the relationship with Consolidated Freightways became frayed. In 1974, the distribution agreement was terminated, and Freightliner Corp. began life as a freestanding manufacturer and distributor. Many of the first dealers were from the White Motor Co. network, but some entrepreneurs also signed up to represent the popular trucks without the White Motor Co. franchise as a complement.

At the same time, the company introduced its first conventional model, an adaptation of the high cab-over-engine mainstay product. HCOE's accounted for well over 50% of the U.S. market in those days, owing to restrictive overall length regulations that limited the bumper-to-taillight dimension of a semi-trailer unit to 55' on interstate highways. However, conventionals were popular on western roads owing to more convenient ingress/egress, better ride, and easier access to the engine when service was required.

In 1979, a new plant was constructed in Mount Holly, North Carolina, and, nearby, a parts manufacturing plant in Gastonia, North Carolina, both in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Volumes continued to build.

1979 marked another very consequential event in the evolution of Freightliner, and of the whole trucking and truck manufacturing industries. President Carter signed into law bills deregulating transport both on the ground and in the skies, which fundamentally altered the "rules of the game" for both. The echoes are still being felt today, with the financial crises being endured by the mainstream airlines. Deregulation changed the economics of trucking, and removed the protective shield of regulated carriage that protected carriers from competition and allowed the Teamsters Union to develop a stranglehold on the nation's economy by virtue of the Master Agreement with all significant freight transport companies.

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