The History of the White Trucks

White Trucks as well by the name of White Motor Company was established in 1900 in 1900 by Thomas H. White. Thomas was also first founder of the White Sewing Machine company. Two years earlier,Ambulance White had purchased the Locomobile steam vehicle. His younger son, Rollin, worked to enhance its appearance and design. Rollin then registered this new design and sold it to Locomobile.

White Trucks Creates the First Vehicles

Rollin was able to convince his father’s permission to construct a steam vehicle with a redesigned motor an automobile in the part within the sewing machine manufacturer. He was joined by his brother Windsor was also involved in the project and they were able to build 50 cars in October 1900 and, following tests, they were put up as a sale for the public in April.

In the year 1905, White Motor Company was an integral member of White Sewing Machine Company, however, in 1905 they broke up to create their own company. One of its first significant moments was the creation of a steam vehicle named Whistling Billy that Web Jay drove on July 4, 1905, at an then-record speed of 774 millimeters per hour.

In 1909 one of White’s vehicles Truck crane was picked as the vehicle of William Howard Taft as the first car used by the president that earned White Motor Company White Motor Company lots of positive press.

The final of these steam-powered cars was made in the month of January 1911, when the White Motor Company changed to producing gas powered vehicles.

White Motor Company Gas Vehicles  Lpg gas tank truck

Although the White steamer car was thought to be a great car, the norm widely accepted used to be the engine that burned that was powered by gas. it. White recognized this, therefore he licensed the his rights for the Delahaye design of gas powered automobiles. Delahaye was a producer of automobiles in the early days.

Tractors are a part of the vehicles in the White Motor Company

In the early years, Rollin White was getting fascinated by making tractors and developed them using White Motor Company truck parts. The company’s main focus however didn’t have Rollin’s passion for tractors therefore he founded his own business called Cleveland Motor Plow, and it evolved into Cletrac Tractor later on.

White Starts Making Trucks

White Motor Company stopped making automobiles following World War I and started manufacturing trucks.Wrecker tow truck The company was selling approximately 10 percent of the trucks sold in the U.S. White produced a variety of dimensions of trucks, ranging from lightweights all the way up to semi-trucks. They were a solid business, and they managed to add other trucking firms to their portfolios over the years to come such as Sterling, Autocar, Diamond T and REO. The company also offered Consolidated Freightways trucks, but did not own them directly.

Notable Historical Event for White Trucks

Through its long history, White Trucks has had many notable events take place since the company began manufacturing trucks. They include:

In 1932, White Trucks briefly merged with Studebaker because of the low sales during the Great Depression however, after two years, the company were reorganized and transformed into The White Motor Corporation.

In 1949 the 1949 film, one of the White Trucks semi trucks appeared in the James Cagney movie White Heat.

The year 1967 was the first time White Trucks formed a Western Star section and it sold trucks throughout the western region

After 1953, White acquired the Autocar Company In 1953, they acquired the Autocar Company, and from there until the 1970s, they distributed trucks made by Freightliner However, they continued manufacturing the trucks with their own name. The company’s sales declined during the 1960s, and they tried briefly to join with their former sewing machine business, but the decision was rejected by the federal government.

They also thought about merging with other companies at the time, like Daimler or Renault. But the company was Volvo AV who acquired White Truck’s U.S. assets in 1981 following White failed to pay its debts in 1980 and lost $311 million.

The assets of the company in Canada were acquired through Bow Valley Resources Services and NovaCorp. White was officially out of business in the year 1985 under its own control however Volvo retained its White trademark until in the late 1990s.

white Trucks In Under Volvo Brand

In the 1980s, White Trucks made trucks under the White name and Autocar even when Volvo controlled them and as such it was called Volvo-White. Volvo eventually bought out the heavy trucking business owned by GMC in 1987 and later merged the two companies into White Trucks which resulted in the creation of the brand White-GMC. Then, Volvo stopped using the White brand name and became only called Volvo Trucks.

In the 1980s under Volvo the brand, they introduced new designs of trucks, such as The Integral Sleeper in 1982, that was a long-distance vehicle as well as The Conventional In 1983, the truck was improved; and the Autocar DS in 1984, and the Integral Tall Sleeper truck in 1985 (known as the Globetrotter of America); the Aero in 1987, a construction-style truck dubbed the Autocar which had an integrated driveline in 1987. In 1996 Volvo stopped using the White brand name , and became called Volvo-Autocar.