Black of White

Is an independent manufacturer at a competitive disadvantage with Detroit's Big Three automakers? Not at all, answered Chairman Robert F. Black of White Motor Co. last week, as he presented the best possible evidence that his company, the nation's oldest truckmaking firm, is feeling no pain from G.M., Ford or Chrysler competition. On a record $270 million in sales, White earned $6.95 per share in 1958, almost the highest profit in its 59-year-old trucking history, in a year when overall truck sales dropped 18%. Of the profits, $3 per share were racked up in the final quarter. Said White's Black: "I am confident that our current year will hit a new sales record."

One big reason for Black's confidence in rising sales was delivered to the trucking industry this month. It was a fiber-glass cab, first in the industry, which is designed to cut 1,000 Ibs. to 1,500 Ibs. from the total weight of a tractor-trailer combination, permitting truckers to raise their payload correspondingly.

The new fiber-glass cab was the latest example of Black's truck pioneering, which has enabled it in the heavy field (13 tons and up) to outsell G.M., Ford and Chrysler combined. Its whole line runs neck and neck with the only other all-truck company, Mack Trucks, Inc.

The White company was on its last legs in 1935 when the stockholders brought Black in to save it. Black's first accomplishment was to bring out, in 1937, the first light, fast truck motor that gave the truck industry the kind of power needed for modern, swift intercity traffic. White again turned the industry on its hubcap by tucking the truck motor under the cab seat. This cut 1 ft. off the cab length, substantially increasing the loading space. To answer the industry's need for an easily serviced engine, White made cabs that would tilt forward, exposing the whole engine at workbench height.

During the next five years the American Trucking Associations estimate that the need for trucks will rise 20%. With the trend toward heavier trucks, in which White has a powerful lead, Black figures that White's business should rise even more.

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