Kenworth celebrates 100 years with Ohio parade

Kenworth continued its 100-year anniversary celebration on June 21 with a parade in Chillicothe, Ohio, where it has a truck assembly plant.

This was the second annual Kenworth Truck Parade in downtown Chillicothe.

“After a successful inaugural Kenworth truck parade last year, this year’s event was even bigger and better as we continue to celebrate Kenworth’s 100th anniversary,” Jack Schmitt, Kenworth Chillicothe assistant plant manager, said in a news release. “It was great to see trucks dating back to the 1920s when Kenworth first opened its doors to our latest models, many of which are built here in Chillicothe.”

The parade featured more than 50 new, classic and customized trucks from the truck maker. Among them were models built in the 1920s and 1930s, a 1976 Bicentennial W900 VIT-200, two Liberty Edition Kenworths – a K100 cabover and W900 conventional, a 1984 W900B from Australia. There also were Kenworth’s 100th anniversary Signature Edition T680 and Limited Edition W900 trucks. A T680, recently delivered to Heartland Express and representing the milestone 750,000th truck produced at the Kenworth Chillicothe plant, also was included in the event.

Before the truck parade, there were events at the Kenworth Chillicothe plant held for drivers and their families participating in and attending the company’s trucks are built. The plant also hosted an employee family event on the plant’s property during the day of the parade.

To support the local community, the truck manufacturer’s Chillicothe plant and the United Way of Ross County teamed up to coordinate a 50/50 raffle, with proceeds going to the United Way of Ross County. During the parade, Chillicothe employees and members of the United Way of Ross County walked around the event to sell raffle tickets. The Chillicothe plant also raised money for the nonprofit organization through sponsorships of the VIP area along the truck parade route. In total, more than $22,000 was donated to the United Way of Ross County.

The Kenworth Chillicothe plant opened in 1974. It is on a 120-acre site 50 miles south of Columbus, Ohio. The 622,000-square-foot plant features advanced manufacturing technologies, including robotic assembly. The multilevel paint facility went into production in October 2021. It is equipped with bell spray head technology that improves the appearance and transfer efficiency of the paint. In 2022, the Kenworth Chillicothe plant received two Manufacturing Leadership Awards for its new Kenworth Paint Facility and Henrob Error Proofing project from the National Association of Manufacturers.

Kenworth trucks are built at assembly plants in Chillicothe; Renton, Wash.; and Ste. Therese, Quebec. The Chillicothe facility produces a broad range of Class 8 trucks, including the T660, T680, T800 and W900. LL

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