100 years of progress: A look at Kenworth over the years with Palmer Trucks CEO and former Kenworth plant manager
100 years is a long time, so much so that change is inevitable. Progression is mandatory to keeping a business relevant. A company doesn’t survive, let alone thrive, for 100 years without evolving. Kenworth is a prime example, so many changes have been implemented to improve products and processes, and culture. To celebrate Kenworth’s 100th anniversary in the upcoming year, we sat down with two knowledgeable members of the Palmer Trucks family to hear about the changes they have personally witnessed throughout their careers and involvement with Kenworth.
John Nichols is the acting CEO of Palmer Trucks. Nichols has worked his way up through the company since his start in 1985 as a truck salesman at the Terre Haute location. This experience has given him a front-row seat to the changes in the transportation industry and Kenworth specifically.
Scott Blue is the former plant manager of Kenworth’s Chillicothe, Ohio plant and PACCAR’s Engine Plant in Columbus, Mississippi. Blue began his career in the trucking industry back in 1988 working as the painting supervisor for the same Kenworth plant he would one day oversee. Blue’s managerial knowledge and firsthand experience provide a look into Kenworth’s ever-changing truck models, progressive processes, and company culture.
Kenworth truck improvements to best serve changing customer needs:
The center of Kenworth’s focus is its products, which have changed tremendously over time. Every driver is different in terms of truck preferences and work conditions, so Kenworth has developed the appropriate trucks to serve drivers of all kinds based on their requirements. There have been cosmetic changes, engineering adjustments and ergonomic modifications in pursuit of the perfect product line best suited for drivers’ needs.
Q: What changes have you seen in Kenworth’s trucks since your start with Palmer Trucks?
A: “Cabovers used to be pretty much the only trucks on the road. Drivers think it’s safer ‘cause you’ve got that mass in front of you in case you get in a wreck, but the real reason was that the Feds changed the length law, so you could have a longer truck and trailer combination,” comments CEO of Palmer Trucks, John Nichols. “The trucks are also a lot more complicated now,” he notes, “and the breadth of our product line is so much better.”
A noticeable change has been the transition from cabovers to conventional trucks. The 70s through the 80s only saw cabover trucks until the change to the federal length law allowed for a longer truck-trailer combination. Congress created a standard trailer length of 48 feet and increased the overall width limit to 102 inches. This change allowed conventional cabs to haul their trailers while staying within the legal length. This meant that drivers were no longer sitting directly on top of the engine as they were in cabovers, and they felt safer in the event of an accident because, as Nichols says, “the mass was out in front.” Along with this, the change allowed for easier servicing as the engine was out in front instead of underneath.
Nichols recalls servicing cabovers with sleepers being an issue for some drivers because of the way the engine had to be accessed. For technicians to work on the engine, they had to tilt the entire cab because engineers designed the truck to use hydraulic cylinders to tip the whole cab forward. This meant long-haul drivers couldn’t store much in their cabs, because in the event they needed to access the engine, all their belongings would be tossed around the truck.
Kenworths also grew more complex with time. “Now there’s several different combinations; there’s medium duty trucks, heavy duty trucks, dump trucks, freight trucks,” adds Nichols. The expansion of the Kenworth product line better suits the needs of each individual driver. Nichols also recalls Kenworth’s break into the engine business with the introduction of the PACCAR engine. “Before, we didn’t have our own engine; back in the day you had Detroit, Cummins, or Caterpillar,” says Nichols, “Now you can get Cummins or the PACCAR engine. So that’s a big step, getting into the engine business.”
As the trucks change and evolve over time, so do the processes from which they are built. Scott Blue, former plant manager of the Kenworth Chillicothe, Ohio plant, recalls the switch from mechanically fastened cabs to adhesively-bonded panels. “Around 1996 when Kenworth started building the T200, instead of a mechanically fastened cab it became a cab that was bonded together with adhesives,” answers Blue. In latent terms, the trucks were no longer being held together by rows and rows of rivets. Instead, the pieces of the cab are being secured by a form of adhesive epoxy used like a glue with a few rivets to keep the sections in place. This was a big change in terms of logistics for someone such as Blue, as he oversaw the entire production process.
Kenworth improves emissions rates and decreases environmental impact:
Now more than ever, the nation is taking the environment and the effects of our choices into account, and major funding is being devoted to improving individuals and companies’ carbon footprint. Research and technology have opened the eyes of many to the harmful effects our lifestyles and businesses can have on the planet. Kenworth has made a conscious effort to decrease emissions through improvements to the trucks as well as exploring alternative fuels.
Q: What improvements to the Kenworth truck product line reduced environmental impact?
A: “We probably have the cleanest trucks we’ve ever had in terms of environmental impact, but there’s a lot more to come of that, but that’s been a process particularly in the last ten years. It used to be that the emissions could fill basketball courts, and now it would fill a basketball… That may not be entirely accurate, but it is that dramatic,” Nichols recalls. Blue adds, “It’s just incredible the amount of change that’s happened. You just don’t see trucks going down the road today with that big puff of black smoke coming out; there’s a few left, but by in large it’s a speck on the chart.”
Kenworth has been at the forefront of mending the environmental effects of trucking and pollution. As Nichols says, the attempts to improve emissions rates have become a major focus of Kenworth in the last ten or so years. Nichols indicates, while the industry has more to improve upon and more change is coming down the pipeline, Kenworth has worked tirelessly and aimed major funding towards shrinking the carbon footprint of their products, as well as their facilities.
The last ten years have brought positive changes to the environmental impact of trucks and transportation, with the EPA creating and implementing regulations to make diesel trucks cleaner. These dramatic changes can be seen with the newer electric trucks manufacturers are producing to offset their emissions. While some may not notice these projects being implemented over time, Kenworth has made leaps in their attempt to become a green truck OEM.
Blue explains the changes made came at a large cost with more weight added to the truck. He theorizes, “I bet 20% of the cost of a truck today is related to emissions regulations.” There have been astronomical changes made to improve the environmental impact of diesel trucks, and the incredible funding spent to be a part of the change. The price of progress is seldom cheap.
Safety improvements in Kenworths to protect truck drivers:
The most valuable asset to OEMs such as Kenworth is the customer. Kenworth recognizes how important it is to foster good relationships and take care of the customer, and that includes prioritizing their safety. Kenworth and the trucking industry as a whole have made a genuine effort to improve the safety features of today’s trucks to protect drivers across the nation.
Q: How do you feel Kenworth has made improvements to increase safety within their trucks?
A: “The brakes, the regulations, collision avoidance, things like that. There’s been great improvements to keep these [drivers] safe,” says Nichols.
Alongside positive environmental developments, safety requirements to protect drivers have improved within Kenworths overtime, such as the introduction of antilock brakes and collision avoidance. Protocols have also been created to ensure drivers take much needed breaks to rest while making long distance hauls. Nichols emphasizes the importance of taking drivers into account and protecting those that do so much for every consumer across the nation.
Kenworth makes strides towards diversity & inclusion:
Kenworth has continuously worked to improve their corporate culture, as demonstrated by their Kenworth Diversity and Inclusion Council and PACCAR Women’s Association (PWA). Kenworth’s Diversity and Inclusion Council mission statement reads: “Cultivate a high-trust workspace that empowers, encourages, and inspires people to be their authentic selves to create innovative and customized business solutions as unique as the communities we serve.” Kenworth has also been honored as a top company for women to work for in transportation by the Women in Trucking Association (WIT) for five consecutive years. These are just some of the many steps Kenworth has taken in the right direction to continue to improve their company.
Dealers also recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion and purposefully continue to learn and grow to create a healthy and welcoming work environment. Specifically speaking, Palmer Trucks has created the IDEA committee, focused on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility. The committee sees to it that employees are taken care of and well informed on all issues concerning those previously mentioned. Along with this came the Palmer Roadmap to express “who we are, what we believe, what drives us, and how we do business.” The Palmer Roadmap outlines the focus on honesty and hard work, valuing employees, fostering relationships, and the intentional emphasis on serving and including all people to ensure Palmer is a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.
Q: Do you feel Kenworth has become a more diverse and inclusive workplace since your start in the 1980s?
A: “Over the years, there’s been an intentional effort amid PACCAR to promote and develop minorities and females into management positions,” Blue confidently states, “so PACCAR has demonstrated a commitment to be inclusive.”
Blue recalls the beginning of his career at Kenworth, “Thinking back to 1988, there might have been a couple female supervisors and a couple black supervisors.” Highlighting the expansion of opportunities for women, he continues, “And not just in typical female categories either.” He mentions all the women in managerial positions at the Chillicothe plant, adding, “the manager that runs PACCAR Parts, which is a huge multibillion dollar division, is a female.”
Blue also reveals that the head of IT for PACCAR is a Latina woman. He says he’s seen a lot of change since his start in the late 80s and thinks, while it’s terrific, it’s long overdue and there’s still progress to be made. Referring to the plant he previous managed, Blue says “I don’t know for a fact, but in the Chillicothe, Ohio plant, there’s probably 50 supervisors, and I’ll bet a third of them are female.”
Kenworth plant processes improve efficiency and increase production rates:
In order to implement change and grow, Kenworth had to make adjustments to their processes to handle the truck improvements and expansion. The truck building processes needed to become more efficient in terms of speed and space; the plants needed to produce more trucks faster and reduce the amount of space these procedures took up because everything was being produced within their respective locations.
Q: What alterations to the factory processes were implemented during your managerial position as plant director?
A: “The biggest thing in my career, was when I started in Kenworth it was 1988, I think we were building at the time, 28 trucks a day or something like that. And then by 2004 when I became plant manager, we were running 48 trucks a day. And then we got up to about 150 trucks a day, and now they’re doing 170, 175, going to 200,” Blue recollected.
A major improvement Blue had the opportunity to witness was the change in production automation and the enhancement of productivity. All parts were being stored and assembled at the factory in the beginning of Blue’s Kenworth career. Although convenient, this proved to be inefficient because the plant was only producing 28 trucks a day. Once Blue stepped into his managerial position, this number increased to 48 trucks a day. Adding a second shift doubled their output, but the issue of parts storage arose with this increase.
Blue recalls their switch to outsourcing parts storage to make room for the volume they were producing, and the outside sub-assemblies they brought in as needed. Blue recalls the process of finding storage for materials, suppliers to sub-assemble parts outside the plant, and creating an efficient plan for parts storage on the factory floor. “The only thing that was on the rack was what you needed for the next truck, because that was the only way we could go that fast in the same building,” says Blue. This would prove to be successful, as the plant began efficiently producing 150 trucks a day, later 175, today nearing 200. These improvements were made possible by building off that original concept: extending the assembly lines and bringing the parts in modularly to be assembled, rather than one piece at a time.
Another significant progression brought forth by Kenworth was the engine company. Blue recalls his move to the engine factory, “We were machining 135 sets of heads and blocks a day, with 6 people. And it was…. incredible.” Blue remembers seeing the engine assembly process, automated tests, and overall increased automation, and was in awe. “It’s still today probably the most modern engine factory in the world,” says Blue, “to see that level of automation is really a change for all of us, for PACCAR as well.”
Kenworth dealership national expansion turns to consolidation:
Kenworth’s expansion strategy included approving as many stable, profitable dealership applications as they logically and financially could in order to grow to a national level. This significantly increased the number of dealership owners and owner-operators to an all-time high. Today, however, the network is much more consolidated.
Q: What other big changes have you seen occur over your professional involvement with Kenworth?
A: “Before with Kenworth, there was probably 250 different owners of dealerships and also during that time there was a lot of individual owner-operators,” Nichols reflects. “Now there’s 46 owners, and there’s not nearly the amount of owner-operators as there used to be.”
Back in the 1950s/60s Kenworth encouraged national expansion through the approval of many individually owned dealerships across the United States. This is how Kenworth acquired nearly 250 dealership owners and, at the time, numerous individual owner-operators.
While the progress made by Kenworth over its 100-year involvement in the trucking industry can be documented, the change has been inconceivable. The continued success of Kenworth is due heavily in part to the changes and advancements mentioned. Without the dedicated PACCAR, Kenworth and dealership employees, the company would not be where it is today.
We’re thankful for 100 years of growth, progress, adaptations, and strategic planning. This year, we celebrate Kenworth for where it started to now, and everyone in between that has contributed to make it the company it is today.