Key Dates in Daimler Trucks North America History

Late1930s
Freightliner founder Leland James begins experimenting with lightweight aluminum truck parts in the Consolidated Freightways truck fleet.

Early 1940s
The Freightliner nameplate first appears.

1942
Freightliner Corporation is founded.

1947
Freightliner opens its first production location, a 10,000 square-foot factory in Portland, Ore.

1951
Freightliner agrees to market its trucks through the dealerships of White Motor Corporation.

1952
Freightliner builds a new, larger truck plant in Portland, on Swan Island and introduces two new models.  The Spacemaker was the company’s first COE with a flat face.

1960
Freightliner builds its second truck plant in Pomona, Calif., to serve the southern California market, Freightliner’s largest.

1961
Annual sales exceed 1,000 units for the first time.

1965
Sales exceed 4,700 units.

1969
Freightliner opens a larger truck plant in Portland; the older plant is dedicated to parts production.

1974
Freightliner's Long Conventional makes its debut.  The FLD 120 would become the company’s best-selling product for its era. The 100,000th Freightliner is built.

1976
Freightliner opens new corporate headquarters in Portland and sets up regional sales offices.  

1977
Freightliner launches an independent network of dealerships in the United States. 

1978
Freightliner opens a parts plant in Gastonia, N.C., its first manufacturing facility east of the Mississippi River.

1979
Freightliner’s new truck plant opens in Mount Holly, N.C.  Market share reaches a record 8.2 percent.

1980
Freightliner of Canada builds its 10,000th truck and signs 30 Freightliner dealers.

1981
Mercedes-Benz AG of Germany purchases Freightliner Corporation from Consolidated Freightways Inc. Freightliner begins marketing Mercedes-Benz medium-duty trucks. The 200,000th Freightliner is produced.

1986
Freightliner is the No. 2 truck in the Class 8 market, with a record 15.5 percent share of the U.S. market.

1989
Freightliner exports the FLC 112 Medium-Conventional to Australia, where it is converted to right-hand drive by Mercedes-Benz Australia.  Freightliner acquires a manufacturing facility in Cleveland, N.C., that will become its largest manufacturing facility.

1991
The new Business Class line of medium-duty trucks from Freightliner is introduced to strong customer acceptance.  The Freightliner Classic debuts, a rugged and stylish Conventional designed to appeal to owner-operators. Sales increase in the export markets.

1992
Freightliner celebrates its 50th anniversary in business as the No. 1 heavy-duty truck builder in the North American market.  Freightliner starts production at its new truck plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, to serve eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.

1993
Freightliner debuts the Classic XL Conventional for owner-operators.  With a 132-inch BBC, it’s the longest conventional truck on the road.

1994
Freightliner Corporation becomes No. 1 marketer of used trucks in North America.

1995
The debut of Freightliner’s Century Class product line brings high-tech truck design to heavy-duty trucking.  Freightliner acquires a chassis manufacturing plant in Gaffney, South Carolina, from Oshkosh Truck Corporation and launches Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation.  The company also acquires legendary fire truck manufacturer American LaFrance.

1997
Freightliner Corporation acquires Ford Motor Company’s heavy-truck business and names the company and the brand “Sterling.” Freightliner launches the SelecTrucks Centers network to sell used trucks.

1998
Daimler-Benz AG and Chrysler Corporation merge to form DaimlerChrysler AG. Thomas Built Buses, a N.C. manufacturer of school and transit buses, is acquired. Production of Sterling trucks begins at the St. Thomas, Ontario, plant.

1999
The one-millionth Freightliner truck is built.  The new Freightliner Century Class S/T (Safety/Technology) truck combines a number of performance, safety and efficiency features. The heavy-duty Freightliner Columbia debuts.  The market leader for the seventh year, the company achieves 38 percent of heavy truck sales in North America. Sterling Trucks launches the medium-duty Acterra.

2000
Freightliner LLC purchases Western Star Trucks, a Canadian-based premium truck builder.  The Condor, a versatile low cab forward COE, is introduced for Freightliner and Sterling customers. 

2002
Western Star Trucks moves its engineering and production to Portland. Freightliner Trucks starts production of the Freightliner Coronado, the new flagship model for owner-operators. Freightliner Trucks launches the Business Class® M2 series, the successor to the original Business Class line. American LaFrance relocates its headquarters and a large production facility to Ladson, S.C.

2003
Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star account for 38 percent of Class 8 sales in the NAFTA region, which includes the U.S., Canada and Mexico markets.  Thomas Built Buses debuts the Saf-T-Liner C2, a revolutionary school bus design.

2004
Thomas Built Buses opens a new, state-of-the art production facility in High Point, N.C. Freightliner LLC unveils its new Wind Tunnel Research facility in Portland, Ore.

2005
Freightliner LLC continues as the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty vehicles and the second largest producer of medium-duty vehicles in North America. Freightliner LLC and Detroit Diesel announce a $275 million investment to create a state-of-the-art component manufacturing center in Redford, Michigan. Freightliner LLC announces expanded capabilities at its South Bend, Indiana, Test Engineering Operation.

2007
Freightliner Trucks' new flagship product, the Cascadia, debuts. The Cascadia sets new standards for the industry in aerodynamics, comfort and safety. Parent company DaimlerChrysler becomes Daimler after the divestiture of the Chrysler Group.

2008
Freightliner LLC becomes Daimler Trucks North America to better reflect its position in the Daimler family worldwide.