Western Star Trucks Information & Western Star Trucks Links at HealthHaven.com

Western Star Trucks
Type	subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America
Founded	1967
Headquarters	Portland, United States
Industry	Truck Manufacturers
Website	www.westernstarstrucks.com

Western Star Trucks is a Redford Township, Michigan, United States based manufacturer of Class 8 commercial trucks.

[edit] History

In 1970 White Trucks started the Western Star division as White Western Star from about 1970 until 1979. By 1980, White was insolvent, despite importing Semon E. "Bunkie" Knudsen, son of General Motors legend Semon Knudsen, and President of Ford Motor Company in 1969–70. Volvo AB acquired the U.S. assets of the company, while two energy-related companies based in Calgary, Alberta, Bow Valley Resource Services and Nova, an Alberta Corp., purchased the Canadian assets, including the Kelowna, British Columbia, plant, and the Western Star nameplate and product range. In 1990 Western Star Trucks was purchased by Australian businessman Terry Peabody, who turned around the company's fortunes over the next 10 years, and in 2000 the company was purchased by the Daimler AG truck division, Freightliner.

All Canadian production was shifted to American plants, and the Canadian company wound down. Western Star is now a US firm based in the US.

[edit] Models

Western Star produces a range of heavy duty trucks suited to a variety of purposes including semi-trailer, multiple trailer, heavy haulage and tipper-and-dog applications. Both aerodynamic and traditionally styled conventional models are available with the spacious Constellation Series cab, introduced in 1996. This replaced the much smaller Heritage series cab that had been used for several decades in White trucks. A range of sleepers, trim levels, gearboxes, and engines from Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel and Mercedes allow buyers to customize their truck to suit their needs.

[edit] Model Information

Western Star has two model families:

6900
4900

The 6900 is an "Extreme Duty" model. It is available in either a single, or tandem front axle configuration.

The 4900 is available in three "bumper-to-back-of-cab" configurations (109", 123" & 132"), two front-axle positions (set-back or set-forward), with either single or tandem front axles.

Both the 6900 and the 4900 can be spec'd with driving front axles, to make a 4x4, 6x6 or 8x8 vehicle configuration.

Stratosphere Star Light Sleepers, introduced in 1997, make use of aircraft inspired composite aluminum wall / plastic-honeycomb-core wall and floor panels to reduce weight while maintaining strength.