Last year Kenworth celebrated its 100th anniversary worldwide. This year KW hit another milestone – building trucks in Chillicothe, Ohio for 50 years. Being 50 miles south of Columbus, the plant in Chillicothe opened March 4, 1974, with the goal of increasing overall production. A day later, a W900 rolled off the assembly line. They started with 300 employees and today have grown to over 2,400 employees, working several different shifts. Nearly 800,000 trucks have been built in those 50 years. Early last year the plant produced its 750,000th truck, which was delivered to Heartland Express of North Liberty, IA.
When Kenworth decided to build the plant in Chillicothe the country was in a recession and unemployment was high, so this plant brought good paying jobs to the area and was a lifeline for many in the community seeking better career opportunities. With investments over the years from Kenworth, the Chillicothe plant has become the largest facility throughout the world.
The plant expanded to include paint, a robotic cab assembly system, a test facility, and more. The plant has built many different types of trucks over the years, including the W900A, W900B, W900L, along with the K100C and K100E cabover models, before moving toward the more aerodynamic models like the T600 and T660. Today, the plant mostly produces the T680, T880 and the W990 models, and recently added the T680E, which offers different power sources, including electricity.
To celebrate Chillicothe’s 50th year, there was a T680E wrapped with black and white photos taken from the 100th anniversary parade the year before. They also included some important landmarks of downtown Chillicothe which included a picture of the entire plant on one side, a picture of the Chillicothe water tower, and a picture of the Welcome Center at the Kenworth plant. A nice anniversary logo was created that featured a border in the shape of the state of Ohio, the Kenworth logo, and a big “50” in the center. The truck also had the saying “Chillicothe Proud Since 1974” on the side. The pictures featured on this truck were taken last year by our friend Colby Williams of Fueled Photography.
A special appearance of The Big Idaho Potato Truck and its “Tater Team” showed up in Chillicothe. This is a big red T680, pulling a double drop trailer, loaded with a huge potato. The truck and trailer are on their 12th cross-country journey, spreading the good word about Idaho Potatoes, creating fun memories for all who see them, and raising money and awareness for organizations like the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and other local charities in the areas they visit.
Eva Knelsen, who was featured in our February 2019 edition (Pretty in Pink), showed up on Friday. She had “a long way to go and a short time to get there” in her Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) themed pink and white 2021 Kenworth W900L and matching trailer. Her truck number, 80085, is interesting, especially when seen in the LCD digital display font! Instead of just enjoying the show in typical fashion, she spent her time helping those in need and selling swag for BCA. After the show ended, she also gave several hundreds of dollars to a charity of Kenworth’s choice, which they gave to The United Way, that will support local families.
Chris “Sundance” Kikelhan and his girlfriend Leaha brought out his 1956 Kenworth W925, painted a light violet purple color, which was featured on our May 2016 cover (Rolling the Dice). The ‘56 was pulling his 2005 Great Dane trailer, which is covered with a tribute mural to Smokey and the Bandit. Chris had brought out this trailer last year, but he pulled it out with another one of his cool rigs – the Bandit Rig – a black and gold extended hood 1981 W900A with a V8 Cat, featuring a gold leaf stripe.
Charlie Bates Jr. brought a rare 1980 W900A “Gold Nugget” edition (#5). In fact, this truck is thought to be just 1 of 1! Supposedly, Kenworth built 200 of these Gold Nuggets, but all of them were short hoods or cabovers – except this one. Built by mistake, Archie Bones ordered it new, and when placing the order, he told his salesman at Ozark Kenworth of Springfield that he wanted it to be an extended hood, so the guy checked off the box, and Archie paid an extra $200 for the modification. Charlie always wanted this truck, and about eight years ago he finally got it – he even has the original build sheet to prove this story. And to make this all even cooler, Charlie still works this rig every day!
I was surprised to see Mike and Monica Ingram’s huge 2020 Kenworth W990, powered by a Cummins X15 hooked to an 18-speed, that rides on a 445” wheelbase! Equipped with a 261” ARI sleeper with a full-size refrigerator, a twin size bed with a ceiling fan above it, a full bathroom, complete with a full size shower on one side and a toilet on the other, and a 100-gallon water tank, that is mounted under the bed. This unit weighs in at almost 30,000 pounds. Mike and Monica haul oversize freight, and their truck is definitely oversized, as well. Mike currently has a W900L on order, and I am really looking forward to seeing that one when finished.
There were a lot of other cool rides in attendance. Spencer Mathis brought out a 1986 KW K100E Aerodyne single axle, painted black and gray with a Salem scheme, hooked to a set of double Allied 28’ moving van trailers. Bill Johnson brought his High Life Express III, which appeared in the January 1982 issue of American Trucker magazine. A 1981 W900 VIT extended hood with a 60” flat top bunk, this truck had a 3406A when ordered, but Bill later updated it to a 3406E. Working the truck every day, it usually pulls a hopper trailer, but twice a week it gets to pull that famous Miller High Life trailer. Billy Baker brought his 1973 extended hood all the way from Canada. This factory-ordered single bunk W900A is powered by a 12V-71 Detroit and has a set of sticks featuring a 15-over with a 4-speed auxiliary.
Trucks started showing up for the event on Wednesday and got staged at the nearby Ross County Fairgrounds. The owners and drivers were cleaning their trucks and polishing them, getting them ready for Saturday’s June 15th events, which included Kenworth Family Day at the plant and the truck parade through Chillicothe. On Friday, June 14th, a lot of the owners and drivers, along with their families, were invited to take a tour of the factory and check out the Kenworth merchandise store. Kenworth offered lunch at the plant before the tour began. Towards the late afternoon, Kenworth had a dinner for those who were invited (all the trucks in attendance were invited to come), and after that was the awards ceremony, where everyone received a personalized plaque and a goodie bag.
During the awards, recognition was given to Dan Murphy. Dan was hired days after the plant opened and started building trucks. He is a well-known and respected plant employee who started as a Production Specialist, then later got promoted to Section Supervisor, and then served as a Liaison Engineer until his retirement in May of this year. Dan rode as a special passenger in the lead truck at the parade, a 1923 Kenworth, and served as the Grand Marshal of the parade. Congratulations to Dan from all of us here at 10-4 Magazine!
The highlight of this show is the truck parade through Chillicothe. The diversity of the trucks involved helps to keep the event fresh and show all the various styles of trucks that Kenworth has built over the past 101 years. This year there were 62 trucks from 20 states, along with a few trucks from Canada, in the parade. The parade started at 8:45 PM, which was planned so the crowd could see the trucks with their lights on, as well. The last truck in the parade was the wrapped rig, for the 50th anniversary, pulling a flatbed trailer with a full stage setup. Mantz Brothers, a high energy country group from Nashville, played live music on the flatbed as the combo rolled down the parade route.
Besides a light shower on Friday night, the weather was great the entire weekend. The temperatures were in the mid-80s with some humidity, but it was nice and pleasant. It was great seeing old friends, and meeting new ones, as well. I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Harter, who is a newer member of the 10-4 family of contributors. This show is an “invitation only” event to bring your truck or attend the party at the plant, but you don’t need an invitation to attend the downtown parade, which is growing every year. Hats off to Kenworth and the city for a job well done. Most towns don’t love trucks, but Chillicothe, Ohio, sure does love Kenworth!
1 Comment
My heart sank when I was reading about the miller high life rig that was in the ’82 issue of American trucker magazine, I was years old at the time , I remember going out and shoveling snow to earn the money so I could pay for my subscription , I had nearly every issue printed,but The collection was destroyed in a storage unit fire. But nonetheless , I have always loved KWS, my dad , uncles and cousins all drove W9s in my childhood . I myself have logged alot of miles in various KWS, heck I’m sitting in one now writing this comment. Thank you Kenworth, and 10 magazine for a job well done. Trucking wouldn’t be trucking without you