Kenworth Truck Company’s assembly plant in Renton WA recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Kenworth employees and their family members marked the anniversary in conjunction with Kenworth Family Day held at the plant. The event included antique Kenworth trucks, an employee classic car show, plant tours, a City of Renton fire truck, and much more, the company said.
“More than 1,300 people from across PACCAR attended Kenworth Family Day, which was a great way to celebrate our employees and the plant’s 25th anniversary,” said Bart Hoemann, Kenworth’s Renton plant manager.
“Kenworth Renton employees had an opportunity to showcase their workplace to their families, have some fun, and enjoy all the activities and food. Employees are critical to the plant’s success with the quality, innovation, technology and care they build into every Kenworth truck produced here.”
Kenworth opened the 300,000 square-foot plant in 1993 on a 40-acre site in Renton. The plant’s first truck, a Kenworth T600B – a later version of Kenworth’s first aerodynamic truck – was presented to Stevens Transport.
In 2000, Fortune magazine recognized the Renton plant as one of America’s Elite Factories, and the plant received Assembly Magazine’s inaugural Assembly Plant of the Year Award in 2004. A year later, Kenworth Renton had the honor of producing the 700,000th Kenworth truck in company history.
In the past 25 years, the Renton plant has produced more than 144,000 Kenworth trucks. The plant currently produces the T680, T880, T800, W900, C500, K500 and 963 models, along with medium duty Kenworth T370s and T440s. Nearly 20 percent of the plant’s current employees have been working for Kenworth since the plant opened.
“Kenworth’s long-term success in the trucking industry can be traced back to a philosophy established early in the company’s history,” Hoemann said. “Build the right Kenworth truck for each customer’s application, and build that truck to last.
“That philosophy continues today at the Kenworth Renton plant.”