While best known for their work in the construction field, 5000 Series Paystars are used on- and off-highway in such severe service applications as snow plowing, coal hauling and as tow trucks.
Producing the Paystar line in the Lone Star State was termed a key element in Navistar's plan to focus truck facilities to help meet increased demand for the company's popular line of severe service vehicles.
"You can see that the Chatham plant could hardly be expected to focus on Paystar production at the rate of six units a day while also turning out 94 on-highway trucks per day," said Jack Allen, Navistar's vice president for heavy truck business. "We are excited about the opportunites the recent changes deliver."
Production in the Garland facility started in February and is now being reved up to eight trucks per day. "Paystar trucks are best assembled in a plant dedicated to building this one type of truck," said David J. Johanneson, Navistar's group vice president for truck business.
Without tipping his hand on exactly what lies ahead, Allen said additional sophisticated products can be expected from the Garland factory by the end of 1998. "We have a very large facility here and some fine workmen," Allen said. "We see some great growth opportunities ahead."
The successful joint venture in Garland was termed a major component in Navistar's strategy to be more competitive by focusing its assembly facilities on producing trucks with less variation from model to model. "We're making steady progress as we reduce product complexity and produce trucks more efficiently to meet marketplace demand," Johanneson added.
Ford-Freightliner details
Sale of the Ford heavy truck business to Freightliner Corp. has been approved by the American and Canadian governments, leading to a massive reshuffling of vehicle assembly work. Production of Ford Louisville vocational and AeroMax over-the-road models, designated HN80 trucks, will be moved from Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP) to Freightliner's St. Thomas, Ontario, factory. The two lines are the heart of what's new in big trucks from Ford. The St. Thomas plant makes Freightliner FLD models, which will be relocated to another Freightliner facility.
Ford Cargo tilt-cab models in weight classes 6-8 will go into production early next year at Freightliner's Mt. Holly, N.C., factory. Mt. Holly has been making Business Class models. A new corporate office for HN80 models will be set up in Cleveland.
"We consider these site selections and production adjustments to be critical steps in the transition," said James L. Hebe, Freightliner president and CEO.
When its heavy trucks are moved out, KTP, the world's largest truck plant, will build the heavier light-duty Ford trucks as well as medium-duty models along with some as-yet-unnamed Ford products.
The Paystar and Freightliner moves could add up to a double dose of attention for the so-called vocational models, such as dump trucks and others used in kindred specialized applications, such as construction work. The focused approach to Paystar models at Navistar is bound to give extra emphasis to those models.
When news of the Freightliner purchase of the Ford heavy truck business was first announced it was reported that a key Freightliner aim was to pick up the vocational truck expertise of Ford factory people and a key portion of the line's dealers.
The Freightliner campaign to diversify its offerings moved another step ahead just before the company announced where it will be building the heavy trucks acquired from Ford. It was announced that the first Eagle fire truck from the reconstituted American LaFrance company had rolled off a Freightliner assembly line in Cleveland, N.C. Freightliner acquired American LaFrance, which was not active in business at the time, in 1995. A large number of Eagles have been ordered by fire departments around the nation and in Canada.
Kelley is a truck writer based in Dearborn, Mich. You may write to him in care of the editor
