The first Western Star truck to be produced at Freightliner's Portland, Ore. plant rolled off the assembly line Tuesday,
according to the Associated Press.
Freightliner, which is headquartered in Portland, is the largest manufacturer of heavy duty trucks, buses and fire engines in North America. A subsidiary of Freightliner, Western Star is based in Ohio and is known for its heavy duty hauling trucks. Freightliner moved its Western Star truck plant from Kelowna, British Columbia to Portland as part of a restructuring plan announced two years ago. The move cost Freightliner $16 million and took a year to complete.
The Western Star operation in Portland will reach full production by mid-November, said Roger Nielsen, chief operating officer for Freightliner.
"With the addition of the new product line, Portland will be the premier heavy duty truck production facility in the Northwest," he said.
In 2000, Freightliner was suffering from a 35% downturn in the truck market and cut 2,600 jobs in Portland at the company's parts manufacturing plant. Many of the people who lost jobs qualified for federally sponsored job training assistance.
Freightliner operates 10 major vehicle-manufacturing plants and two parts manufacturing plants in North America.
The first Portland-built Western Star truck was started up by its new owner, Ryan Lucas, outside the plant. He turned the engine over and blasted the truck's horn.