Federal Trucks

1924 Federal Trucks

• Federal Trucks built trucks from 1910 to 1959 and started on Federal Ave in Detroit.

• The company started as Bailey Motor Truck by Martin L. Pulcher, who also started the Oakland Motor Car Company but the First truck was  named Federal Trucks.

• Pulcher knew the key to success was to produce high quality trucks in sufficient numbers to keep price low.

• These trucks were conventional and were bought by conventional customers who wanted tried and true trucks. Early advertising reflects this philosophy, “Never An Experiment“.

• In the 20’s a deviation into Sleeve engine was not successful.

• The Flashy Diamond T sold many more units than Federal.

• Many trucks of this era were a combination of jobber parts and the Federal was no exception but had a large machine shop at it’s factory to build many small parts for the trucks suspension and chassis in house.

• The factory was 500,000 square feet and up to 700 workers produced trucks on a 600 foot assembly line.

•  Many truck builders produced “Cab and Chassis” or plain Chassis’s but Federal saw a profit in producing their own completed trucks.

• Their paint booth was modern and they developed their own Lacquer called “FedLac” and it was very durable.