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Ford throws lifeline to suppliers facing cash crunch

Keith Naughton, Bloomberg  /  May 21, 2020

The automaker is helping keep key component suppliers afloat by paying invoices early. Ford plans eventually to expand the program to other manufacturers across its supply base.

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is helping some of its suppliers survive a cash crunch by paying its bills early to ensure that critically needed parts keep flowing to its auto factories.

The Detroit 3 are restarting production after shutting down for two months to slow the spread of the coronavirus. That has caused a cash-flow crisis at many suppliers that don’t have deep capital reserves.

Ford burned through $8 billion in the first three months of the year, but it has built up a substantial cash pile by suspending its dividend, drawing down its credit lines and selling junk bonds. Now it is helping keep key component suppliers afloat by paying invoices early.

“In light of current market conditions, Ford is creating an early-payment program for our supply base,” Jennifer Flake, a company spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement. “This new voluntary program creates access to cash flow and working capital to Ford suppliers.”

The automaker, which is projecting a $5 billion operating loss for the second quarter, said it is making these early payments to a small group of key suppliers it declined to identify. The company plans eventually to expand the program to other manufacturers across its supply base, Flake said.

5 hours ago, carlotpilot said:

the pictured truck most likely had a 534 gas engine and a5x4 trans.` could have been an 1160 cat

That is a beast. Thanks for posting.

2 hours ago, TS7 said:

The Florida Coronavirus Website whistleblower was arrested last year and charged with cyberstalking, looking at 12 months in jail. Who's corrupt now.

You're right.

1 hour ago, Outbehindthebarn said:

Was this also true for the Western Superliner's?

Yes.

Ford plant worker tested positive for Coronavirus, sending thousands of factory workers home early after second day open

CBS Chicago  /  May 20, 2020

Chicago’s Ford assembly plant sent thousands of workers home early on Wednesday only two days after reopening because an employee tested positive for the novel Coronavirus.

The unexpected dismissal came after Ford reopened Monday. Production was set to resume Tuesday night.

Ford had implemented temperature checks, installed social distancing reminders and redesigned work stations for safety. Ford said the company has been cleaning and disinfecting all areas that the ill employee might have touched.

“I’m worried right now,” said employee Timothy Shy. “This is the second day, and we are already hearing about this.

Production was temporarily halted at part of the facility and the main plant.

“Social distancing doesn’t really work,” said employee Billy Cowart.

There are changes from the social distancing reminders outside to temperature checks and re-configured work stations inside. Ford provided a video highlighting some of the updated health changes COVID has brought along to their plants

“All these people are crowded and on top of each other,” said Michael Hopper while wearing his Ford issued face mask.

“I lost a brother to Coronavirus May 6th,” Hopper said.

Hopper along with others describes an experience inside the plant that doesn’t sound or look like the polished video.

“I cleaned my own workstation myself,” said Hopper. “How our jobs are set-up, if one person gets in the hole that would affect the person behind him.”

"You can kick their balls, but you can't touch them."

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5 hours ago, Vladislav said:

When was that happened?

The second generation (RWI) Super-Liner entered production in 1985.

(The MH Ultra-Liner entered limited production in 1984........there were quite a few last minute changes)

5 hours ago, Vladislav said:

Can't understand again.

Was the 2nd gen RW with rectangular headlights known internally as RWI model (not RWII)? Should I take that RWI doesn't mean RWS?

Ok, if so, when Superliner production was moved from Hayward to East Coast (in 81 as Mike said) did it already purchase a newly designed MH chassis? Or any trucks were assembled using Cruiseliner rails?

The 2nd gen RW with rectangular headlights was known internally as the RWI model.

The RWI (on the Ultra-Liner chassis) replaced the Hayward, California-built RWS (steel frame) and RWL (aluminum frame).

5 minutes ago, Vladislav said:

The MH chassis-based RWI - what it actually was?? A RW2 with earlier headlights?

Also seems strange since Cruiseliner kept its original Western split chassis to the end of production (at Macungie) and RW1 had similar chassis. So what is the truth? Was RW1 with its original not MH-based chassis ever produced at Macungie or not?

The second generation Super-Liner, produced in Macungie, with the 4 rectangular headlights (H4651/H4656), built on the previously introduced MH Ultra-Liner chassis, was known internally as the RWI model.

We didn't spend money to improve the Cruise-Liner chassis because the Ultra-Liner was in the development pipeline to replace it before the first Cruise-Liner rolled off the Macungie assembly line. While the Cruise-Liner's death was planned, we wanted to continue on with the Super-Liner product.

Ford Trucks Spain  /  May 18, 2020

They say good things are kept waiting, but the COVID-19 has made it longer than expected!! Happy to announce that our dealer Vehinva has delivered their first F-Max on Friday to Fernando Zapata.

Fernando, we hope you enjoy your shiny new truck! Thank you for choosing us!

#PoweredbyFordTrucks 😊 #SharingtheLoad

On 5/5/2020 at 5:57 PM, mrsmackpaul said:

Looks like a Mack dealer ship in Spain

Spanish haulier San Jose used the Mack emblem Paul. We didn't care......free advertising.

https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/30466-when-mack-roamed-europe-the-middle-east-africa-and-western-asia/?page=3&tab=comments#comment-180054

2 minutes ago, Mack Technician said:

Dems won’t raise taxes to pay into debt or even slow debt accumulation, they’ll blow it on programs, kick the can down the road, and start up the printing machine. They always have and always will. The money printing machine is every politicians favorite from Obama’s quantitative easing to Don’s Covid 💰 19 print-fest (maybe call it “Covid 19-trillion printfest”). It steals money directly out of the pocket of those who have wealth(aka- no debt), slightly benefits those in debt up to their ears and makes attaining a living wage increasingly impossible because of hyper-inflation. 

We’re screwed boys. Pretty soon nobody will be able to afford a soap box to stand on and shout out their party affiliation, you’ll be spending it on a $5 loaf of crumby Walmart “Great Value” bread.

The way they're printing money scares the heck out of me.........a recipe for disaster.

36 minutes ago, Mack458 said:

I believe that history will show that Trump was the most corrupt president in modern history. While he said he was going to "clean up the swamp" but he has placed his loyalists in positions that they are not qualified for. He has provided the wealthy and companies with a substantial tax cut, while the working class was led to believe they would get the same. For me, while I took home more money, come tax season I paid 3K that I would have rather paid in each paycheck. As we see time and time again he has fired anyone who disagrees with him, and I believe this is a coverup. His cabinet positions are filled with "Acting" before the persons name. He has attempted to stop officials from testifying, and anyone not on "the team" is critisized harshly, even if they had been loyal in the past. Friday night he fired the State Department IG. He has always gotten his way in business because he is the boss, but have anyone try to explain something to him and he knows more. He knows more than the Generals, Doctors, and other specialist in thier field. The one thing I can say about him is he is very good at pointing his finger at everyone else and blaming them. He has never once said the words "I was mistaken".  He always claims "the fake news" and/or blames the democrats. Remember how Covid-19 was a hoax by the dems to win the election. "Just 15v Cases - one day it will disapear". Well he blew this one folks. The WH had people telling them that this was bad in advance. Trump didn't want to listen to the truth - and you see the results. Deaths could have been avoided along with some of the restrictions that we are now facing.  He has blamed everyone except the guy in the mirror. Did he create Covid-19, NO. Should he have acted quicker with urgency to protect citizens, YES. Again he point the finger at everyone else. Obama left him low on supplies - you Mr. President have been in office for three years. Time to take responsibility.

The funny thing to me is that he has destroyed "his" beautiful economy. As the deficit continues to rise under his leadership, they will continue to reduce taxes for corporations and the wealthy. WE will all pay the price for his belief that this was a hoax. I feel for the folks who will loose everything, the busisinesses that will close and not rehire people. This will not go away for many years. There will be a time when Republicans and Democrats will have to sit down and raise taxes to get rid of this debt. If the Dems do it on thier own, even though it's best for the country, they will pay the price.

WE as a nation have to start working together on common goals. If not, I am afraid that the America we once knew, will be a thing of the past. I hope that a vaccine is found very soon, or the use of a current drug, and that Americas are the ones who discover it. We were once looked up to on the world stage. We no longer have that reputation, in my opinion. 

Based on the news fed to us from the entire spectrum of media (I don't know anyone in government today personally), I can't argue with you.

13 hours ago, TS7 said:

So if all government is inefficient, that makes what Obama did ok, by your standard. Well no that is no reason for him and others to get a pass on what they did. Government is only as corrupt as we let it be  You have a hard time accepting that Trump came in to start cleaning the corruption up and it is coming out how rotten to the core DC is, both sides. No one in our lifetime has tried what he has tried to do and no one has put up with so much push back. The rats are on the run, looking for someplace to hide Will see in the coming months, how many get caught. 

I never mentioned Trump or Obama. Okay?

I only said that all government, by design is corrupt (and has been for hundreds of years).

In 1887, John Dalberg-Acton wrote:

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

32 minutes ago, TS7 said:

The level of corruption being revealed from the Flynn ordeal is staggering. It is now very clear that Obama was abusing governmental surveillance to spy on Trump. 

All government, by design, is corrupt to varying degrees, and inefficient in functionality.

1 hour ago, Vladislav said:

Was RW1 ever produced at Macungie???

The RWL/RWS was produced at Hayward.

The MH chassis-based RWI was produced at Macungie.

F-150, Bronco programs delayed 2 months

Michael Martinez, Automotive News  /  May 15, 2020

DETROIT — Plant shutdowns due to the coronavirus will result in roughly two-month delays for several of Ford Motor Co.'s key vehicle programs, including the redesigned F-150 pickup and new Bronco SUV, but a top executive said the automaker doesn't envision additional postponements.

"Given our inability to work in our assembly plants during the shelter-in-place restrictions, it will have an impact to program timing, in terms of the launches, but we expect the launch delays to be commensurate with the duration of the shutdown period," Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's chief product development and purchasing officer, said Friday in a Bank of America presentation.

Ford on March 18 said it would shutter its North American facilities as the coronavirus spread across the globe. It plans to resume limited production at most plants Monday.

Ford has already delayed public unveilings of the Bronco, Bronco Sport crossover and F-150 this spring.

The Bronco Sport, F-150 and Mustang Mach-E electric crossover are due in showrooms in the second half of 2020. The Bronco is expected to go on sale in early 2021.

Bronco Sport output was originally planned to start July 13 but then was pushed to Sept. 7 because of the coronavirus outbreak. Suppliers have been told production now will begin Aug. 31 at a plant in Mexico.

The vehicles represent popular, high-margin nameplates that Ford hopes are key to a financial turnaround.

Despite the delays, Thai-Tang said Ford planned no further postponements, even as money gets tight.

"We're not going to do any additional delay to these launches beyond the impact of COVID-19 as a mechanism to conserve cash," he said. "I know that's something some of the other OEMs are doing."

The virus has upended launch plans for a number of automakers.

Ford has said it has enough cash to make it to the end of 2020, even if none of its assembly plants resumed production.

In the case of the Bronco family of vehicles, Ford is betting not only on robust sales — it's targeting 200,000 in 2021 — but also revenue from a large number of accessories. Ford is hoping the Bronco subbrand can do for it what Jeep has done for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

"FCA has nine Jeep products; last time I counted, it accounts for at least half of their revenue and profit, all underpinned by the Wrangler," Thai-Tang said. "We think we have the same brand strength with Bronco and Mustang, and series like Raptor, that we need to really capitalize on. You're seeing the initial us dipping our toes in the water, but we think there's tremendous upside there."

10 hours ago, Maxidyne said:

There were also some customers that loved the R model so much that even after the R model was discontinued instead of buying CHs they ordered RDs with lighter specs to use as on-highway tractors. I've even seen a couple with sleeper boxes!

Yes. If I recall correctly, Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Kenan Transport ordered RD tractors when the R model was discontinued. In their spec, basically the same truck except with the stronger deeper rails. The weight difference was actually negligible. The ultimate money-making tractor for a tanker fleet.

Read of the week

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In the early days of the pandemic, the US government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America

Aaron David, Washington Post  /  May 9, 2020

It was Jan. 22, a day after the first case of covid-19 was detected in the United States, and orders were pouring into Michael Bowen’s company outside Fort Worth, some from as far away as Hong Kong.

Bowen’s medical supply company, Prestige Ameritech, could ramp up production to make an additional 1.7 million N95 masks a week. He viewed the shrinking domestic production of medical masks as a national security issue, though, and he wanted to give the federal government first dibs.

“We still have four like-new N95 manufacturing lines,” Bowen wrote that day in an email to top administrators in the Department of Health and Human Services. “Reactivating these machines would be very difficult and very expensive but could be achieved in a dire situation.”

But communications over several days with senior agency officials — including Robert Kad­lec, the assistant secretary for preparedness and emergency response — left Bowen with the clear impression that there was little immediate interest in his offer.

“I don’t believe we as a government are anywhere near answering those questions for you yet,” Laura Wolf, director of the agency’s Division of Critical Infrastructure Protection, responded that same day.

Bowen persisted.

“We are the last major domestic mask company,” he wrote on Jan. 23. “My phones are ringing now, so I don’t ‘need’ government business. I’m just letting you know that I can help you preserve our infrastructure if things ever get really bad. I’m a patriot first, businessman second.”

In the end, the government did not take Bowen up on his offer. Even today, production lines that could be making more than 7 million masks a month sit dormant.

Bowen’s overture was described briefly in an 89-page whistleblower complaint filed this week by Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Bright was retaliated against by Kadlec and other officials — including being reassigned to a lesser post — because he tried to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency.”

Emails show Bright pressed Kadlec and other agency leaders on the issue of mask shortages — and Bowen’s proposal specifically — to no avail. On Jan. 26, Bright wrote to a deputy that Bowen’s warnings “seem to be falling on deaf ears.”

That day, Bowen sent Bright a more direct warning.

“U.S. mask supply is at imminent risk,” Bowen wrote. “Rick, I think we’re in deep shit,” he wrote a day later.

The story of Bowen’s offer illustrates a missed opportunity in the early days of the pandemic, one laid out in Bright’s whistleblower complaint, interviews with Bowen and emails provided by both men.

Within weeks, a shortage of masks was endangering health-care workers in hard-hit areas across the country, and the Trump administration was scrambling to buy more masks — sometimes placing bulk orders with third-party distributors for many times the standard price. President Trump came under pressure to use extraordinary government powers to force the private industry to ramp up production.

In a statement, White House economic adviser and Coronavirus task force member Peter Navarro said: “The company was just extremely difficult to work and communicate with. This was in sharp contrast to groups like the National Council of Textile Organizations and companies like Honeywell and Parkdale Mills, which have helped America very rapidly build up cost effective domestic mask capacity measuring in the hundreds of millions.”

Carol Danko, an HHS spokeswoman [and employee of the American people], refused to comment on the offer by Bowen and other allegations raised in the whistleblower complaint. Wolf also refused to comment on the whistleblower complaint.

A senior U.S. government official with knowledge of the offer said Bowen, 62, has a “legitimate beef.”

“He was prescient, really,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. “But the reality is [HHS] didn’t have the money to do it at that time.”

Another HHS official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “There is a process for putting out contracts. It wasn’t as fast as anyone wanted it to be.”

A voice in the wilderness

Two decades ago, the low-slung factory in Texas was part of a supply conglomerate that produced almost 9 in 10 medical and surgical masks used in the United States.

Bowen was a new product specialist at the plant back then, and he watched as industry consolidations and outsourcing shifted control of the plant from Tecnol Medical Products to Kimberly-Clark and then shuttered it altogether. In less than a decade, almost 90 percent of all U.S. mask production had moved out of the country, according to government reports at the time.

Bowen and Dan Reese, a former executive at Tecnol, went into business together in 2005 and eventually bought the plant, believing a market remained for a dedicated domestic manufacturer of protective gear.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress appropriated $6 billion to buy antidotes to bioweapons and the medical supplies the country would need in public health disasters. An obscure new government organization called the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or ­BARDA, was among the agencies purchasing material for what would become the Strategic National Stockpile.

Bowen began studying ­BARDA, attending its industry conferences and searching for a way in to press his case.

In the parlance of BARDA, Bowen was seeking a “warm base” contract. The government would pay a premium to have masks manufactured domestically, but his company would keep its extra factory lines in working order, meaning production could be ramped up in an emergency.

Bowen said he soon concluded that BARDA’s focus was trained elsewhere, on billion-dollar deals to induce manufacturing of vaccines for the most exotic disasters, such as weaponized attacks with anthrax or smallpox.

Still, as Bowen moved down the supply chain, appealing directly to hospitals to buy his domestic-made masks, his sales pitch often ended with a plea to call BARDA.

Bowen often carried PowerPoint slides from a 2007 presentation by BARDA and its parent division at HHS, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. One had a table showing that, in the event of a pandemic, the country would need 5.3 billion N95 respirator masks, 50 times more than the number in the stockpile. The presentation concluded: “Industrial surge capacity of [respiratory protection devices] will not be able to meet need and supplies will be short during a pandemic.”

Bowen said he felt like a voice in the wilderness.

“The world just looked at me as a mask salesman who was saying the sky was falling,” he said, “and they would say, ‘Your competitors aren’t saying that in China.’ ”

After Trump’s election, Bowen hoped the new president’s America-first mentality might trickle down to operations like his. He wrote a letter to Trump and addressed it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: “90% of the United States protective mask supply is currently FOREIGN MADE!” it began.

“I didn’t think Trump would read it, but I thought someone would and take note,” Bowen said.

He also called Bright, who had been appointed to lead BARDA just before Trump took office. “In 14 years of doing this, there have been maybe four people in government who I felt like really understood this issue,” Bowen said. “Rick was one of them.”

In Trump’s first year, however, Bowen grew newly disillusioned. During a week when the White House touted its “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, Bowen lost a military contract worth up to $1 million to a supplier that would make many of the masks in Mexico, he said. "Shame on the Department of Defense! One of these days the Bowen wrote on Aug. 17, 2017, to Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Clark, a senior official with the Pentagon’s Defense Health Agency. The US military will need America’s manufacturers to help win another war or fight another pandemic — and they will not exist,”

Proposal to produce goes nowhere 

For Bowen, the first signs of trouble came in mid-January. Online orders through his company’s website, typically totaling maybe $2,000 a year and accounting for only a fraction of his business, suddenly skyrocketed to almost $700,000 in a few days.

On Jan. 20, Bowen also fielded a call from the Department of Homeland Security, urgently seeking masks for airport screeners. Bowen said he did not have masks in stock to fill the order, but the call led him to contact Bright to tell him about the surge in demand for masks. “Is this virus going to be problematic?” Bowen wrote.

Inside HHS, Bright quickly passed Bowen’s on-the-ground observations to a group that included Wolf, the director of the agency’s Division of Critical Infrastructure Protection.

“Can you please reach out to Mike Bowen below? He is a great partner and a really good source for helpful information,” Bright wrote on Jan. 21.

“Thanks Rick,” she replied. “We are tracking and have begun to coordinate with fda, niosh, and manufacturers today. More to follow tomorrow. Thinking about masks, gowns (inc those in shortage), gloves, and eye protection.”

Within a day, Bowen sent an email to Wolf laying out what Prestige could do. The company’s four mothballed manufacturing lines could be restarted with large noncancelable orders, he wrote.

“This is NOT something we would ever wish to do and have NO plans to do it on our own,” he wrote. “I’m simply letting you know that in a dire situation, it could be done.”

Over the next three days, Bowen kept HHS officials informed as orders for a million masks came in from intermediaries for buyers in China and Hong Kong. On Jan. 26, he sent the email warning that the U.S. mask supply was at “imminent risk.”

Bright forwarded it that day to Kadlec and others, urging action: “We have been watching and receiving warnings on this for over a week,” he wrote.

The next day, Bright wrote to his deputy asking him to explore whether BARDA could divert money earmarked for vaccines and other biodefense measures to instead buy masks.

From his end, Bowen said his proposal seemed to be going nowhere. “No one at HHS ever did get back to me in a substantive way,” Bowen said.

The senior U.S. official said Bowen’s idea was considered, but funding could not easily be obtained without diverting it from other projects.

Bowen started talking to reporters about the mask shortage in general terms. He was soon invited to appear on former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon’spodcast: “War Room: Pandemic.”

On the Feb. 12 podcast, the two commiserated over the beleaguered state of U.S. manufacturing. “What I’ve been saying since 2007 is, ‘Guys, I’m warning you, here’s what is going to happen, let’s prepare,’ ” Bowen said on the program. “Because if you call me after it starts, I can’t help everybody.”

Bowen said Bannon put him in touch with Navarro, the White House economic adviser.

Navarro was quick to see the problem, Bowen said. After talking with Navarro, Bowen wrote to Bright that he should soon expect a call from the White House. “I’m pretty sure that my mask supply message will be heard by President Trump this week,” Bowen wrote. “Trump insider reading yesterday’s Wired.com article, the ball is screaming toward your court.”

According to Bright’s complaint, he soon began attending White House meetings and helping Navarro write memos describing the supply of masks as a top issue. Emails and memos attached to the complaint show Bright reporting back to Kadlec and others about his work with Navarro.

None of it turned the tide for Bowen.

Nearly a month after his emailed offer, Bowen received his first formal communication about possibly helping to bolster the U.S. supply. The five-page form letter from the Food and Drug Administration — one Bowen said he suspected was sent to many manufacturers — asked how his company could help with what was by then a “national emergency response” to the shortage of protective gear.

Bowen responded on Feb. 16, by firing off a terse email to FDA and HHS officials. He directed the agencies to a U.S. government website listing approved foreign manufacturers of medical masks. “There you’ll find a long list of . . . approved Chinese respirator companies,” he wrote. “Please send your long list of questions to them.”

In March, Bowen submitted a bid to supply masks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which by then had taken over purchasing.

The government soon spent over $600 million on contracts involving masks. Big companies like Honeywell and 3M were each awarded contracts totaling over $170 million for protective gear. One distributor of tactical gear — a company with no history of procuring medical equipment — was awarded a $55 million deal to provide masks for as much as $5.50 a piece, eight times what the government was paying months earlier.

On April 7, FEMA awarded Prestige a $9.5 million contract to provide a million N95 masks a month for one year, an order the company could fulfill without activating its dormant manufacturing lines. For the masks, Prestige charged the government 79 cents a piece.

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2 hours ago, Whiskymack said:

Misleading publicity from Mack! I took a look at that brochure again. There is a picture of an unbadged Value-Liner labelled as an RD but later in the brochure there is a correctly labelled Western Contractor RD! The brochure is dated 87 so the Value-Liner must have gone by then.

Here's a link to it but I can only open it with google Chrome. Firefox or Edge don't seem to like it.

Photo: MackConstr87-04 | Mack Construction Trucks 1987 album | modeltrucks25

You are bringing back memories today. That brochure has a Value-Liner you showed (incorrectly identified as RD), as well as a pre-facelift axle-forward RD with Value-Liner styling. Customers and dealers said it was too heavy, so we didn't sell many. We sold far more post-facelift Western Contractors.

I'm going to say the last model year for Macungie Value-Liner production was 1987.

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3 minutes ago, Whiskymack said:

Yes, I've come across the Western Contractor. Wasn't it an RD with the old hood and a lookalike but slightly smaller Western style grill? I remember seeing a Mack construction brochure from the 80's which had both the Western Contractor and the Value-Liner in the lineup so there must have been a period when both models were available.

With a set-forward front axle.

No, the RD Western Contractor did not exist until after the Value-Liner was discontinued. The lack of a Value-Liner, or a replacement, angered the western dealer body, forcing the issue to be addressed.

I recall we discontinued the Value-Liner thinking the face-lift RD would be an acceptable replacement for both east and west. Our dealers didn't agree and complained. So we created the face-lift RD "Western Contractor" as a replacement for them, for the discontinued Value-Liner. Later, we made the Western Contractor specs optional on the standard RD and discontinued the Western Contractor as a stand alone model.

Peterbilt Motors Press Release  /  May 12, 2020

Peterbilt Motors Company is proud to announce the return of the Model 389 Pride & Class package due to popular demand. Introduced with a limited production run in 2014 and 2017, the Model 389 Pride & Class package’s unique styling and touches of understated elegance truly set this truck apart from all others.

Key external features of the Model 389 Pride & Class package include a highly polished hood crown surrounding a classic style louvered grille sheet, a brightly polished hood spine, chrome hood side accents, and polished hood fenders. The side of the truck is accentuated with polished rocker panels, bright cowl skirts, battery box, fuel tanks, and trimmed mud flaps. The iconic exterior look is finished off with a polished exterior sun visor, bumper, exhaust stacks and an exclusive Pride & Class emblem on the sleeper.

The distinctive features of the Model 389 Pride & Class package continue on the inside of the truck as well with a luxurious Platinum Arctic Gray interior, charcoal dash top and Blackwood-finish trim accents throughout the cab. Premium black leather seats are embroidered with the Pride & Class logo on the headrests and go nicely with the black, luxury carpet lines found in the spacious cab and sleeper. Bright gauge bezels, a special steering wheel and Pride & Class emblems on the dash and accent trim round out the interior experience.

“The Model 389 Pride & Class package takes a place among Peterbilt’s most iconic trucks. With unparalleled performance and distinctive design, it furthers our proud tradition of providing trucks with industry-leading styling, quality and value,” said Robert Woodall, Assistant General Manager Sales and Marketing.

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