Robson Ranch residents enjoying and appreciating a tour of the Denton Peterbilt plant.
Nancy Buenzow
Thanks to Ranch resident Lonnie Loyd, a small group of residents were entitled to a tour of the Denton Peterbilt plant. Lonnie is a 33-year employee of Peterbilt with retirement on the horizon soon. Tours are typically not conducted for private individuals—only vendors, Peterbilt dealers and their customers. Given Lonnie’s longevity with the company and excellent work history, an exception was made by the plant manager, Chris Davis.
Peterbilt Motors Company, founded in 1939, is an American manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty trucks. It is a subsidiary of Paccar, which also owns fellow heavy-duty truck manufacturer Kenworth. The Denton manufacturing facility is the only one in the United States. Robson residents were treated to a tour consisting of start to finish observation of the assembly process. Tour guide, Salty Rose, a Peterbilt employee since 1987, gave an amazing and informative narrative of the company’s history and each of the processes along the assembly line. The plant employs over 2,000 people and builds 192 vehicles a day! Automation and robotics have increased production capabilities. The average tenure of employees is 11 years, which speaks to Peterbilt being an excellent employer. To our amazement, every truck they produce is sold and made to the customer’s specifications. They currently have a six-month backlog at their present rate of production.
Everyone agreed it was a fascinating tour and was very grateful for the opportunity. We are also extremely proud to have Peterbilt as our neighbor in the Denton community.