1929 White Shell Tanker Truck
• The White Trucking company started with by Thomas H. White in 1876 making hand operated sewing machine company.
• Once successful, they branched into bicycles.
• Two sons went to France to see the new fangled steam powered “Automobiles”
• The first White Steam powered automobile was introduced in 1899.
• The sons branched out in 1906 as the White Motor Car Company.
• In 1910 they built a 3 ton gas powered truck
• Building high quality but expensive cars and trucks they dropped Steam in 1910.
• Soon came a 3 ton 30 hp truck, the GTA and by 1912 a 5 ton TC, both chain drive.
• For WWI they concentrated on military trucks and got a large contract from Czar Nicholas of Russia.
• The White Motor Car Company was building 10% of all US Made trucks following WWI
• During the depression they bought Indiana Truck Co. from Brockway Trucks and merged with Studebaker-Pierce Arrow in 1932.
• In 1935 A Cab-over Heavy Duty 730 was introduced with a 7.6 litre (464ci) horizontally opposed 12 cylinder gasoline engine
• In 1937 they hired the famed designer Count Alexis de Saknoffsky to design a special truck and trailer for the Labatt beer company.
• After WWII -White Motor took over Oliver Corporation, Diamond REO, and Autocar
• -White became the distributor for Freightliner trucks
• -Started the Western Star brand of trucks
• Always Innovating, White introduced a fibreglass body in 1959 that leaked and was too weak.
• White had sales of $770 in the mid 60’s
• A production line for the White Western line was produced in British Columbia exclusively for the western market.
• Bankruptcy in 1980 and taken over by Volvo.
Started by Thomas H. White in 1876 as a hand operated sewing machine company in Massachusetts. Moving to the more central Cleveland and it’s available markets allowed the company to prosper and they soon were making bicycles. Two of the sons ventured to Europe to look into the steam powered French “Automobiles”