Peterbilt Trucks For Sale

About Peterbilt

The economic crisis of the 30s, known as the "Great Depression", affected the production of trucks to a lesser degree than other industries. The founder Peterbilt engineer T. Peterman needed machines for transporting logs. Previously, for this purpose, he was rewriting decommissioned army trucks but soon decided to start his own production. In 1938, for this purpose, a new company was founded, which was named "Peterbilt Motors Company", and cars were produced under the brand Peterbilt. In the same year, 1939, the first 14 trucks were assembled. In the 1940s, the company rapidly increased its sales. As early as 1940, 82 cars were assembled, in 1941 - 89. And over the next 10 years, more than 2,000 trucks were sold. The fact that Peterman owned a plywood factory, reflected on the first trucks: inside the cabin was trimmed with plywood. The peculiarity of the brand cars was a high quality of performance, endurance, and reliability. In 1944 Peterbilt received a state order for 225 vehicles for the needs of the US Army. In 1945, things went even better, and as a result, 324 cars were sold.

In August 1960 Peterbilt moved to a new territory and became a branch of the company, which in 1972 became known as Pakkar. From the early 1960s until the mid-1980s, the company was based in San Francisco, and the main plant was in Newark, California. During the first year, Peterbilt produces more than 800 trucks at the new plant. In the 60's it was produced about 21 thousand cars. Very soon the plant's capacities are no longer sufficient for the needs of the company, and in 1969 Peterbilt opens a plant in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 70s, 72 thousand cars were produced. In 1980, the third plant opens, in the Texas city of Denton. In 1986, the Newark plant closed. The headquarters was relocated to Denton in 1993. In 2008, a hybrid power unit was first used on the tractors of this brand. It was created and manufactured by Eaton. In 2010, the company introduced its new Peterbilt 579 tractor with optimized aerodynamic performance and lower fuel consumption compared to classic hooded trucks.