The first U.S.-built Volvo D12 engine for installation in a customer’s Volvo VN model truck was presented to AAA Cooper Transportation in Hagerstown, Md. on April 15.
Previously, Volvo engines were produced in Sweden and exported to North America.
The Volvo D12 was presented to G. Mack Dove, chairman of AAA Cooper, and Robert Floyd, director of maintenance, by Peter Karlsten, president and CEO, Volvo Trucks North America Inc., and Scott Kress, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
The occasion marked the formal start of series production of Volvo engines in North America at the Volvo Powertrain facility in Hagerstown. The 12-liter Volvo D12 is built on a new, state-of-the-art production line at the plant. Production of the recently-introduced 16-liter Volvo D16 will begin at Hagerstown in late August. The Volvo Group, the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engines in the world, is investing $150 million in the Hagerstown facility to make it the North American Center of Excellence for its powertrain operations.
“Building engines in Hagerstown is an advantage for Volvo and our customers, since it sharply reduces the amount of time involved in shipping a finished engine to our truck plant in Dublin, Virginia,” said Karlsten. “This makes us more nimble and flexible as a manufacturer to serve the needs of customers such as AAA Cooper Transportation. And, we now have Volvo’s industry-leading diesel manufacturing technology here for our North American customers to see for themselves.”
AAA Cooper is headquartered in Dothan, Ala. and is a family-owned, regional less-than-truckload trucking firm serving 12 Southeastern states and Puerto Rico. Also served are the industrial areas of Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville and Minneapolis. The company has 78 terminals in the Southeast for next day and two day service. The fleet operates about 2,000 Volvo VNs and in recent years has ordered Volvo engines exclusively. For more information, go to www.aaacooper.com.
Volvo Trucks North America assembles its Volvo VT, VN and VHD trucks in the United States at the ISO14001 and ISO9001 certified New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Va. It’s part of the Volvo Group of companies, a publicly held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
With 2004 sales of approximately $27 billion, Volvo’s business areas include heavy trucks, buses, construction equipment, marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace and financial services.
For more information, go to www.volvotrucks.us.com.
