To commemorate Volvo Trucks’ North American milestone, company officials presented the new Volvo VN, assembled at Volvo’s New River Valley plant in Dublin, Va., to Wilson Trucking Chairman Chuck Wilson, President Guy Wilson and members of the Wilson Trucking staff. Wilson Trucking’s Volvo VNL 300 is equipped with a Volvo D13 engine, I-Shift automated manual transmission and one-of-a-kind badging to distinguish the truck as the 500,000th Volvo assembled in the U.S.
“It’s a great honor to build the 500,000th Volvo assembled in the U.S. here in our New River Valley plant, where every Volvo truck sold in America today is produced,” says Patrick Collignon, Volvo Trucks COO. “The fact that it’s for Wilson Trucking, a neighbor located not too far up the road from the plant who we’ve gotten to know very well over the years, makes this event even more special.”
“We’re pleased to share this important milestone with Wilson Trucking,” says Ron Huibers, Volvo Trucks’ senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Our history together dates back a long time and we’re proud that Wilson Trucking continues to choose Volvo trucks to wear Wilson’s signature green and red colors.”
According to Volvo, this is not the first milestone the company has shared with Wilson. In the late 1970’s Wilson Trucking purchased the first Volvo F86 sold in the U.S. In 1981, Volvo established a U.S. production presence and in 1982 Wilson purchased the very first Volvo – an F7 – to roll off the line at the New River Valley plant in Dublin, Va. Wilson again purchased a “first” in 1996 when Volvo introduced the VN model.
“We’ve always enjoyed working with Volvo and we appreciate the way Volvo trucks are built – safe, comfortable and quiet,” says Chuck Wilson, chairman of Wilson Trucking. “It’s easy to retain top quality drivers when they have a top quality truck to drive. Now we’re adding trucks with the Volvo I-Shift transmission, which is yet another comfort our drivers really like – and it helps with fuel efficiency.”
