Peterbilt’s Denton, Texas, manufacturing plant is proud to celebrate its 40th year of operation. From its earliest beginnings in August 1980, Peterbilt’s Denton plant has become the main manufacturing facility for the brand, building trucks that are recognized as the class of the industry. Peterbilt’s Denton plant was built with purposeful innovation and growth in mind. The plant began operation as a 435,000 sq ft facility with 81 employees on 80 acres of land. Today it sits on 238 acres, employs over 2,500 people and has over 700,000 sq ft of space spread out over multiple buildings. Of those original 81 employees, Peterbilt would like to congratulate Susan Bishop and Ken Montgomery who are still working at the plant today.
“During the past forty years Peterbilt has built over 629,000 trucks in the Denton plant and we’re constantly investing and implementing new technologies and processes to improve our quality and efficiency for the future. The past five years alone have seen investments in automated overhead parts storage and retrieval, automated guided vehicle assembly lines, additional emissions reduction equipment, a brand new test building as well as numerous enhancements throughout the plant,” said Leon Handt, Peterbilt assistant general manager operations.
The Peterbilt Experience inside the Denton plant was added so customers could see a glimpse of Peterbilt’s past, present and future. It includes the very first truck to roll off the Denton plant assembly line, along with other classic trucks, the latest Peterbilt models, cab and sleeper cutaways, a full lineup of PACCAR engines and powertrains as well as multiple interactive displays.
“In a regular year, we have thousands of people touring the Peterbilt Denton Plant. The ability to see our amazing employees utilizing the advanced tools and technology to build each Peterbilt truck to a customer’s exact specifications really shows off the quality of our product. It is one of the strongest selling tools we have,” said Robert Woodall, Peterbilt assistant general manager of sales and marketing.