| Freightliner
Freightliner was started in 1930 by truckers at Consolidated Freightways who wanted trucks powerful enough to get over the mountain passes to California and other western high altitude obstacles. Lacking a dealer network and distribution channels, and seeking higher volume to reduce production costs, CF entered into an agreement to sell their trucks through the White Motor Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, through their dealer network in the U.S. and Canada as the co-branded "White Freightliner". White encountered poor investments in the early 1970's and in 1974 the distribution agreement was terminated. Freightliner Corp. began life as a freestanding manufacturer and distributor. Some dealers were from white while many independent dealers climbed aboard to sell the popular trucks. They introduced the first conventionals. Under the deregulation of the Carter era, unionized CF sold n May of 1981, Consolidated Freightways sold its truck manufacturing business to Mercedes-Benz so that it could focus on its core trucking business as well as its financial situation. Freightliner became the leading heavy truck nameplate in 1992, adding new products rapidly, and added a number of acquisitions, including Western Star Trucks (previously "White Motor Co."), Detroit Diesel Corp. and Oshkosh Custom Chassis, which becomes Freightliner Custom Chassis. Now a Daimler AG company, on January 7th, 2008, Freightliner will be renamed to "Daimler Trucks North America LLC".
http://www.freightliner.com/
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