Peterbilt Motors Company is a manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty Class 5 through Class 8 trucks headquartered in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1939, Peterbilt operates manufacturing facilities in Denton, Texas (1980), and Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec. From the early 1960s until the mid 1980s, the company was based in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, with its headquarters, parts department, and main plant all in Newark, California. The Newark plant closed in 1986, with all manufacturing consolidated at its facility in Denton; in 1993, headquarters and engineering also moved to Denton.

History

In the early part of the 20th century, Tacoma, Washington plywood manufacturer and lumber entrepreneur T.A. Peterman was faced with a lumber logistics problem. He couldn't get freshly felled logs from the forest to his lumber mill quickly, or efficiently. In order to develop forest assets, it would be necessary to improve upon the contrived methods of the day: floating logs down river, or the use of steam tractors, and even horse teams. Peterman knew that if he could develop the then nascent automobile technology and build trucks, he could go a long way towards solving his problem.

To this end, he was rebuilding surplus army trucks, (back in the 50s) improving the technology with each successive vehicle. Then he decided to try to put a battery on the starter (instead of the crank) and shortly thereafter, he purchased the assets of Fageol Motors of Oakland, California in 1938 in order to supplement his need for a custom built logging truck chassis. Fageol had gone into receivership in 1932. By 1938, the Great Depression had driven the value of the assets to nearly zero. Peterman acquired the defunct truck manufacturer and began to produce customized chain-drive trucks for exclusive use by his timber concern. In 1939, he began to sell his remarkable trucks to the public. T. A. Peterman died in 1945. His wife Ida, sold the company to seven individuals within the organization (management) less the land. They expanded it into a serious producer of heavy-duty trucks. In 1958, Ida Peterman announced plans to sell the land to develop a shopping center. The shareholders, not having the desire to invest in a new manufacturing facility, sold it to PACCAR. PACCAR (Pacific Car & Foundry Co), then primarily a manufacturer of railroad freight cars, was looking to expand into truck manufacturing. PACCAR, which had acquired the assets of Kenworth in 1945, was already an up and coming player in the heavy truck market. In June 1958, Pacific Car acquired Peterbilt Motors as a wholly owned subsidiary. One year later, Pacific Car started construction of a modern 176,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Newark, Calif. In August, 1960 Peterbilt moved to the new facility and became a division of the parent firm, carrying on its own tradition while retaining its product line.

The Move to Denton

In 1980, Peterbilt built a second manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas, which in 1986 would become the company's sole plant when Peterbilt closed the Newark plant. In 1993, Peterbilt left Newark completely, moving its headquarters and engineering operations to Denton as well.