Kenworth Truck Company looks back on another memorable year through the images that helped define it.
From key moments and meaningful connections to the trucks and people that move our industry forward, these photos capture the stories, progress, and pride that made 2025 a year worth remembering.
February 2025:
Truckworx Kenworth Named 2024 Kenworth Dealer of the Year
Kenworth recognized Truckworx Kenworth as its 2024 Dealer of the Year for the United States and Canada during the annual Kenworth Dealer Meeting in Tucson, Arizona, marking the second consecutive year the dealer group has earned the company’s highest honor. Truckworx stood out for exceptional performance across Kenworth’s dealer excellence metrics, including increased heavy-duty market share, strong PACCAR engine mix, PremierCare Gold leadership, full-service bay utilization, reinvestment in facilities, and successful TRP store operations.
March 2025
T880S Performance Hood Expands Vocational Capability
March brought exciting news for vocational customers as Kenworth introduced the new T880S Performance Hood at NTEA Work Truck Week® in Indianapolis. Designed for demanding applications – including heavy haul, logging, and high-horsepower stationary work – the new hood extends the T880S lineup with an envelope that allows added cooling performance, and larger engine compatibility. The T880 Performance Hood features a longer design and a larger 1,440 square-inch cooling module, enabling the model to support the Cummins X15 engine rated up to 605 hp and 2,050 lb.-ft. of torque. This marked the first time a T880S configuration can be paired with the high-horsepower X15.
Kenworth Unveils Kenworth W900 Legacy Edition at MATS
Kenworth honored more than six decades of trucking heritage with the debut of the W900 Legacy Edition at the Mid-America Trucking Show. The unveiling marked an emotional milestone for customers and fans alike, celebrating the iconic model’s unmatched influence on trucking culture since its introduction in 1963. Limited to just 1,000 serialized units, the Legacy Edition pays homage to the countless owner-operators, generational families, and enthusiasts who have long considered the W900 “The Driver’s Truck™.”
The W900’s farewell tour carries a sense of pride across the Kenworth community. For many customers, the truck has been a trusted partner in their livelihoods, a symbol of independence and craftsmanship, and even a cultural icon with memorable appearances on both highways and movie screens.
April 2025
Kenworth Launches the T880E and Next Generation T680E at ACT Expo
Kenworth used the stage at ACT Expo to introduce two major additions to its zero-emission lineup: the industry’s first vocational Class 8 battery-electric truck, the Kenworth T880E, and the Next Generation T680E. Built on PACCAR’s new integrated ePowertrain platform, both models deliver between 365-470 hp continuous power and up to 605 hp peak with 1,850 lb.-ft. of torque, giving fleets the drivability and performance expected from Kenworth.
Kenworth Showcases its Diversified Powertrain Lineup
In addition to launching the T880E and Next Generation T680E, Kenworth showcased advancements in natural gas and clean-diesel technologies, including the introduction of the Cummins X15N to the T680 and T880 and continued availability of the PACCAR MX-13 CARB low-NOx engine. These offerings highlight Kenworth’s commitment to a fully diversified powertrain portfolio – clean diesel, low-NOx, natural gas, and next generation BEVs – all engineered to give fleets practical pathways to lower emissions without sacrificing performance.
May 2025
Kenworth Expands its Vocational Lineup with New L770 and L770E
May marked a major milestone for Kenworth’s vocational lineup as the company unveiled its first low-cab forward Class 8 trucks – the new L770 and battery-electric L770E – at WasteExpo in Las Vegas. Purpose-built for the demanding world of commercial and residential refuse collection, as well as specialized applications like concrete pumping and paint striping, the L770 series introduces a new level of versatility and capability to Kenworth’s vocational offerings.
June 2025
Fourth Annual Kenworth Truck Parade in Chillicothe, Ohio
The Kenworth Chillicothe plant hosted its fourth annual Kenworth Truck Parade, drawing thousands to downtown Chillicothe for a celebration of trucking history, community, and Kenworth pride. This year’s event paid special tribute to the iconic W900, honoring the model’s legacy as one of the most recognizable symbols in American trucking. More than 50 Kenworth trucks – from a vintage 1923 modelbuilt the year the company was founded to modern-day units manufactured in Chillicothe – rolled through the parade route, showcasing over a century of innovation and craftsmanship.
August 2025
W900 Legacy Edition Featured at Cummins Jamestown Engine Plant Event
Kenworth highlighted the W900 Legacy Edition during Cummins’ “Bring Your Kid to Work Days” at the Cummins Jamestown, New York, Engine Plant, giving employees and their families an early look at the final special edition of the iconic W900. The appearance underscored the long-standing partnership between the two companies, as Cummins is producing exclusive X15 engines painted in classic Cummins beige specifically for the Legacy Edition – one of several vintage-inspired elements designed to honor the model’s heritage.
Kenworth and WyoTech Partner to Launch Kenworth NextTech Program
Kenworth announced a major workforce development initiative through a new partnership with WyoTech: the Kenworth NextTech program, a hands-on training program designed to help address the nationwide shortage of diesel technicians. Unveiled during Kenworth Day at WyoTech’s Laramie, Wyoming campus, the event featured a ribbon cutting, campus tours, new Kenworth-branded installations, and opportunities for students to connect directly with Kenworth dealer representatives.
November 2025
U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Hauled by a Kenworth T680 for the 12th Year
Knight-Swift Transportation driver Michael Porter completed one of the most celebrated hauls in the industry: transporting the 2025 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from Nevada’s Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest to Washington, D.C. A former mechanic who became a professional driver seven years ago, Porter described the nearly 3,700-mile tour – featuring 15 community stops across nine states – as the highlight of his career. This year’s 53-foot Red Fir, named Silver Belle, was carried on an 80-foot Hale Trailer and hauled by a specially themed Kenworth T680 honoring the “Spirit of the Silver State.”
December 2025
Kenworth Introduces its Battery-Electric Conventional Medium-Duty Lineup
Kenworth announced a significant expansion of its zero-emission portfolio, announcing its first conventional medium-duty battery-electric models: the T280E, T380E, and T480E. Built on PACCAR’s fully integrated ePowertrain platform, the Class 6-8 BEVs offer eMotor ratings from 170kW (230 hp continuous, 335 hp peak) up to 350kW (470 hp continuous, 605 hp peak), with peak torque ratings of 1,100 or 1,850 lb.-ft., with battery options delivering up to 280 miles of range and one-hour fast charging capability. The three models are designed for a broad mix of applications – from pickup and delivery to regional haul, utility, and vocational work – and will enter production this year.
Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award Winner Awarded Kenworth T680
Distinguished Army Veteran Charles Jones, Jr., received this year’s “Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence” award. Jones Jr., who served more than 20 years, including three combat deployments to Iraq and two rotations in South Korea, was honored during a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., where he received the keys to a Kenworth T680, the program’s grand prize. This is the 10th consecutive year Kenworth has participated in this award in partnership with Fastport and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program.
Kenworth Profiles
Cara Howes
Kenworth assistant director of marketing Cara Howes brings a deep, personal commitment to service into her career at Kenworth, shaped by more than 15 years with Kenworth and PACCAR and an equally distinguished record in the U.S. Navy Reserve. After earning her MBA, Howes received a direct commission as a Navy Supply Corps officer, serving in complex logistics roles with the Sixth Fleet in Italy and later in Afghanistan, where she helped train local forces on logistics best practices – experience that earned her multiple Navy and Army commendation medals. Today, she continues to serve as a reservist while applying the leadership, planning, and problem-solving skills developed in the military to her work at Kenworth. With lifelong family ties to both trucking and military service, Howes exemplifies how military experience translates seamlessly into the trucking industry and reflects PACCAR and Kenworth’s long-standing commitment to supporting veterans and recognizing the value they bring to the workforce.
Madison Stemmler
For Madison Stemmler, elevating the Kenworth driver experience starts with designing the invisible. As a user interface designer, Madison focuses on how drivers interact with in-cab displays – crafting intuitive, human-centered systems that keep drivers informed, comfortable, and focused on the road. Her work blends technology and empathy, ensuring complex information is delivered in a way that feels natural and distraction-free. To better understand the realities of life behind the wheel, Madison even earned her Commercial Driver’s License shortly after joining Kenworth, giving her firsthand insight into the environment she designs for and reinforcing her belief that great design begins with truly knowing the user.
Madison’s path to Kenworth was anything but traditional. After earning a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and working in marketing and design, she pursued a master’s degree in human-computer interaction and design at the University of Washington. That journey brought her to Kenworth, where her passion for user experience and technology converged with a deeply personal connection to trucks – her grandfather was a dedicated heavy-duty truck collector whose restored vehicles now reside at the Northwest Truck Museum in Salem, Oregon.
Customers at Work
Family Legacy Lives on in Chad Roberson’s 2000 Kenworth W900L
For Chad Roberson, owner-operator of Chad Roberson Trucking in Fairfield, Illinois, trucking is more than a profession – it’s a three-generation legacy rooted in family, perseverance, and the open road. Central to that legacy is a 2000 Kenworth W900L, custom-ordered by his father, Everett, and cherished by both Everett and Chad’s mother, Marsha. The bright yellow truck – chosen in honor of Marsha’s love for yellow roses – became the backdrop for countless lessons Chad absorbed from his parents and grandfather, all of whom spent their lives in trucking. After losing both parents in the early 2000s, Chad let the truck go during a difficult period, a decision he long regretted as the W900L symbolized their shared history and passion for trucking.
But in 2022, Chad stumbled across an online listing and instantly recognized his father’s Kenworth, owned by a young couple in Oregon. Once they learned the truck’s story, they insisted it return to him. Chad flew west, repurchased the W900L, and drove it more than 2,000 miles home – a journey he describes as a spiritual reunion with his parents.
