10/20/2026
Kenworth and logging go back a long way. The company took the Kenworth name in Seattle in 1923, named for investors Harry Kent and Edgar Worthington, and it didn’t take long to figure out who its toughest customers were. Northwest loggers needed trucks that could climb steep, muddy haul roads under a full load and make it back down in one piece, every single day.
So Kenworth built them to order. A logger could pick the engine, gearing, wheelbase and axles to fit the ground he worked, instead of making do with whatever rolled off an assembly line. That built-to-order approach stuck, and it’s still part of the Kenworth story today.
Then came diesel. In 1933, Kenworth was the first American truck maker to offer a diesel engine as standard equipment. Out in the woods, that meant more pull on the grades and fewer fuel stops between the landing and the mill.
The timber connection got even deeper in 1944, when Pacific Car and Foundry bought the company. Pacific Car already knew the woods well. It had built logging railcars and sold winches and logging arches under the Carco name. You know that company today as PACCAR.
Trucks like these changed how timber moved. Logs that once rode the rails or floated downriver started coming out on rubber, and stands of timber that were too remote for a rail spur were suddenly within reach.
Over the years, the W900 and later the T800 became what a lot of people picture when they think “log truck,” from Oregon to British Columbia. And for the really rough stuff, the C500 earned a reputation as one of the toughest off-road haulers around.
Did you or someone in your family haul logs with a Kenworth? We want to see the photos and hear the stories. Post them below.
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