Just one day after Hino Trucks held the grand opening of its new manufacturing facility in Mineral Wells, W.Va., it celebrated another milestone – the 20,000th truck delivery to Penske Truck Leasing (PTL). 

In a ceremony held at the plant to commemorate the delivery, members of Hino Trucks, including President and CEO Shigehiro Matsuoka were on hand as Hino Motors Ltd chairman Yoshio Shimo presented the key to the 20,000th truck to Roger Penske.

“Hino is an important supplier of trucks to our leasing and rental business”, said Penske Truck leasing Chairman Roger Penske.  “I am honored to accept delivery of the 20,000th truck produced by Hino in the United States on behalf of Penske Truck Leasing and would like to congratulate the entire team at Hino on the achievement of this significant milestone.”

The 20,000th truck is a 2020 model 268A a part of Hino’s line-up of Class 6 & Class 7 conventional trucks that have garnered an industry reputation for providing the lowest cost of ownership in its class.  Hino’s 268 model is specifically well suited for the lease and rental market segment where Hino has grown to 10% of the market. The 20,000th truck will be a part of Penske Truck Leasing’s commercial rental fleet.

“This has been a landmark week in the history of Hino Trucks. We have officially opened the doors of our new 1 million sq ft manufacturing plant, and are commemorating a milestone delivery to our longstanding partner Penske Truck Leasing. They continue to guide and support our growth in North America and we look forward to continuing to provide them with best in class trucks,” said Matsuoka.

“We’re honored to receive the 20,000th Hino truck into our fleet. We congratulate the entire Hino and Toyota organizations on achieving this milestone,” said Brian Hard, President and CEO of Penske Truck Leasing. “Hino is a valued and trusted supplier and we appreciate their ongoing support and collaboration in our work together.”

The first truck drove off the new Mineral Wells assembly line June, and the plant is now producing 66 trucks per day on one shift. Hino says it will ramp up production to 15,000 units annually sometime in 2020. The plant has capacity to produce 30,000 trucks per year on two shifts, and will eventually employ up to 800 workers, Hino says.