DIE CAST PROMOTIONS TO ANNOUNCE NEW TOOLING

Plans to produce White-Freightliner COE to be unveiled at Toy Trucker and Contractor show.

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 18, 2007-Die Cast Promotions of Peosta IA plans to announce today the next cab it will be adding to its growing vintage line. The White Freightliner Cabover is planned to be a model from the 60's and although it is not confirmed yet as to what exact variant will be produced, they are considering the 63" or 81" BBC (Bumper to Back of Cab) models. This cab is expected to be welcomed by model producers of the many "Fallen Flag" trucking companies that formed the trucking industry as we know it today.

Freightliner LLC

With a headquarters located in Portland Oregon, Freightliner currently has 25,000 + employees, 800 dealerships (in the Unites States, Canada and Mexico) and produced more than 187,000 units in 2006. They hold a 35% market share of the class 8 trucks(heavy duty) and 31% of class 6-7 (medium duty) produced in the US.
Freightliner began In the late 1930s. Leland James, president of Portland, Oregon-based trucking company Consolidated Freightways (CF), sought a lighter, more durable truck that could haul more payload and bring in more revenue for his company. When he approached truck manufacturers with his idea of building truck components with lightweight aluminum instead of steel, he was met with resistance and skepticism. At the time, aluminum was not widely used in industrial applications, so James decided to hire a group of engineers and build the vehicles himself. Featuring a cab-over-engine design, James' trucks were not only lighter, but more durable and easier to handle than other trucks of the era. These new trucks quickly became popular with CF's drivers, and in 1940 James helped establish Freightways Manufacturing Company in Salt Lake City to produce the vehicles. In 1942, the manufacturing company changed its name to Freightliner Corporation. During the war, the company switched operations to the production of ship and aircraft parts.
In 1947 they opened a manufacturing facility in Portland, Oregon. The postwar economy boomed, and in 1950 the Hyster Company of Portland became the first private carrier to order a Freightliner. Word of this new "Western truck" quickly spread, and soon Freightliner was making vehicles for other carriers. In 1981, Daimler-Benz AG, purchased Freightliner from Consolidated Freightways. DaimlerChrysler is the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer.
In 1995 the company purchased both the Oshkosh Corporation's chassis division, ( to found the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation) and acquired firefighting/emergency vehicle manufacturer American LaFrance. In 1997 it purchased the heavy truck division of Ford Motor Company and soon after launched the Sterling brand. They also acquired school bus manufacturer Thomas Built Buses. Further growth continued with the purchase of Western Star Trucks in 2000 and the launch of the North American Unimog in 2003.

Some Brochures of White Freightliner Cabovers from the 1960's courtesy of Hank Suderman and Ken Goudy of www.hankstruckpictures.com