Freightliner LLC

Freightliner LLC was a manufacturer of heavy duty trucks, chassis and semi-trailer trucks. Freightliner LLC had a name change to Daimler Trucks North America. Freightliner LLC was 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 is 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.

History

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.