ATLANTA, Ga. — Kenworth is expecting a record number of medium-duty truck orders this year and is increasing its build rate accordingly, the company says.

The announcement was made at Kenworth’s T300 Chassis Update Seminar held Mar. 2 at The Work Truck Show in Atlanta, hosted by the National Truck Equipment Association.

“Kenworth’s T300 continues to grow in popularity in the marketplace, and we’ve upped our build rate to keep pace with demand,” says Mike Parrish, Kenworth’s medium duty product marketing manager. “Last year we grew our T300 sales by over 35 per cent which is particularly noteworthy since industry-wide, medium duty truck sales were off 20 per cent from the year before.”

Parrish adds customers are looking for reliable medium-duty rigs that will last more than 10 years and he says the T300 fit’s the bill because of its low-cost of ownership and reliability.

“Our T300 was developed with the heritage of our Class 8 vehicles – so it’s robust and durable,” says Parrish. “We offer a multitude of options – like Cat and Cummins engines and different drive-train components – to fine tune our vehicles to our customer’s application. The end result is we produce a truck that has the structural integrity to perform just as well in year 10 as it does in its first year of operation.”

The T300 is popular in Class 7 and Class 6 applications, and the company says it boasts a light footprint, a hydraulic brake package and air seats and an air rear suspension.