Western Star Trucks
Western Star Trucks Sales, Inc. is an American truck manufacturer headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of the Germany-based Daimler Truck. History. In 1967 White Motor Company started the Western Star division as White Western Star with a new plant at Kelowna, British Columbia, sharing headquarters with White in Cleveland, Ohio. White Western Star trucks in that era typically used cabs from its sister company, Autocar. Western Star production was moved to Ogden, Utah, but the brand was not included in the  1981 sale of White's truck business to Volvo, instead being sold to Bow Valley Resources and Nova Corporation, each owning 50%. In 1991, Western Star Trucks was purchased by the owners of the Western Star Australian subsidiary, Terry Peabody and Bob Shand. Western Star Trucks acquired the bus manufacturer Ontario Bus Industries (renamed Orion Bus Industries) in 1995. ERF trucks was purchased by Western Star in 1996. It was sold in 2000 to MAN. In 2000, Western Star was purchased by DaimlerChrysler, becoming part of the Freightliner Trucks division. In 2002, Western Star production was moved to a plant  in Portland, Oregon. 4700, 4800, 4900 and 6900 model trucks are still manufactured in the Portland Truck Plant. In May 2015, the Daimler Trucks North America plant in Cleveland, North Carolina, began to build 4700 and 4900 models, as well as assemble all new semi tractor 5700XE models. More recently, Western Star MBT 40 trucks operated for bauxite mining in Guinea. Models. Western Star produces a range of Class 8 commercial vehicles for both highway and off-road use. Western Star specializes in trucks tailored to customer specifications. Every Western Star offers several sleeper box sizes, with chassis lengths of  up to 486 inches depending on model. Five interior packages are available and sleepers can be trimmed to specifications. Engines, transmissions, axles, suspensions and brakes are available in a number of configurations. Engines used include Cummins and Detroit. Western Star also produces right-hand drive trucks for the Australian, New Zealand and South African markets. Western Star trucks are available with anti-lock brakes, traction and stability control, and other modern safety features in order to remain competitive and meet DOT regulations. Model Information. Western Star currently has six model families: Western Star sold a lightly altered version of the  White High Cabover as the Western Star Cabover in the 1980s and early 1990s. They also produced a licensed version of the Iveco VM 90 for the Canadian Forces during the 1990s, called the LSVW. Western Star produced trucks for the United States Military rebadged as Freightliners but has since stopped selling military vehicles.