The Lancashire factory that designs and builds DAF trucks for the UK and export markets, part of the American company PACCAR.
Leyland Trucks makes DAF lorries at its plant in Leyland, Lancashire. It builds the full DAF range, including the XG+, XG, XF, XD and XB, for left-hand and right-hand drive markets, and designs and makes truck bodies in-house. It describes itself as PACCAR's established centre for light and medium-duty truck design, development and manufacture.
The name goes back a long way. The Lancashire Steam Motor Company was formed in Leyland in 1896 by James Sumner, and became the root of Leyland Motors. After many mergers, a management buyout in 1993 created Leyland Trucks Limited, and PACCAR acquired it in 1998. It is now one of PACCAR's global group of businesses. The company lists six Leyland values: Customer Focus, Empowerment, Innovation, Personal Development, Personal Responsibility and Team Working.
The factory covers about 710,000 square feet in North West England, and production there began in 1979. Wikipedia gives 1,100 employees in 2019. The site also houses the UK home of PACCAR Parts, which handles spares for the UK and Europe, and a Design Centre where 100 engineers use CAD/CAM and 3D tools and an anechoic noise-testing chamber. A new generation of DAF models, including the LF and CF, began production in 2021.
The company says it works as one team, with a "Team Enterprise" philosophy that involves the whole workforce, and it runs the PACCAR Production System, built on safety, quality, delivery, cost, morale and environment. Staff benefits it lists include an on-site health centre, free physiotherapy, health checks and confidential counselling. It also works with local schools, charities and community groups. Leyland also took over all Foden truck production in 2000, and it set a record of 24,700 trucks in 2008, with its 300,000th truck produced in April 2008. The benefits and values are the company's own descriptions. The plant also began robotic painting of chassis in 2005 and produces fully bodied trucks on the line from 2007.
A truck plant needs design and test engineers, production and quality staff, robotic painting and maintenance technicians, parts and logistics teams, IT specialists and finance and HR professionals. If you are curious about how a lorry gets from drawings to the motorway, Leyland Trucks is a proper example of UK manufacturing.
Website: www.leylandtrucksltd.co.uk
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