First Western Star rolls off the line in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (Oct. 24, 2002) — Western Star Trucks has delivered its first vehicle produced in Portland, Ore. — to an owner-operator customer from British Columbia.
The last Western Star rolled off the line in Kelowna, B.C., where the custom-built trucks had been produced for more than 30 years, on Sept. 27.
Western Star parent Freightliner LLC announced plans to close the factory and shift production to its Portland truck plant one year ago as part of a company-wide restructuring. Freightliner said it spent $16 million US to prepare the Portland plant for Western Star production and relocated nearly 80 employees from Kelowna, most of them managers and engineers.
The first Portland-built Western Star, a 4900 SA, was presented to Ryan Lucas of Mackenzie, B.C. Lucas operates four heavy-duty trucks in logging and lowbed applications in the Mackenzie area.
Western Star, headquartered in Willoughby, Ohio, produces premium, custom trucks for long-haul, and vocational applications.
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