Hino Motor Manufacturing U.S.A. covers 65 acres in Mineral Wells, in the former Coldwater Creek call center, warehouse and distribution center. At the top is the area where completed trucks are parked to await shipping to the company’s 197 dealers. (Photo Provided)

MINERAL WELLS — In 1946, Hino began manufacturing and marketing heavy-duty trailer-type diesel trucks and engines in Japan.

In 2007, Hino became the first and only automotive assembly plant in West Virginia and the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Their first U.S. made trucks were assembled in the former Walker Machinery facility in Williamstown. Hino was not a stranger to the U.S. market since they began exporting medium-duty trucks in 1983.

By 2018 they outgrew the facility and moved to the former Coldwater Creek facility in the Mineral Wells area, though it had been annexed into the City of Parkersburg, said Justin Wager, vice president of operations at the local facility.

He added the Williamstown building is still used by the company, mainly for warehousing.

(Photo Provided)

Hino is a subsidiary of Toyota with U.S. headquarters in Novi, Mich., a suburb of Detroit.

Parts for the trucks manufactured at the plant come from a number of suppliers, Wager said

“We receive the parts from a lot of what we call local suppliers, which are North American suppliers,” he said. “We also received parts from HML, Hino Motors Limited, which is our parent company in Japan. That gives us everything we need to make the trucks.”

Jeremy Bias, vice president of supply chain, said the cab and fenders come from Hino in Japan. All other parts come from their more than 100 suppliers in the U.S.

“The breakdown for our trucks is 80% – 20% local suppliers versus from Japan,” he said.

(Photo Provided)

Wager said the trucks are assembled at the facility, which is designed to produce up to 65 trucks in a day. Right now they are producing 20 trucks per eight-hour shift.

Hino in Mineral Wells has 300 employees at this time.

Wager said each truck is quality confirmed at the end of the line.They are parked for a third party to shuttle them to the finished vehicle yard, about a quarter of a mile from the plant on the 65-acre site.

From there they are distributed by the sales group to get them out to the dealers.

Wager said the trucks made in Mineral Wells are sold only in the continental United States.

“We have a network of dealers across the U.S. that distribute the trucks for us,” said Mark Brakeall, director of marketing. “There are 197 three S, or full-service, dealers that can sell trucks, perform service and sell parts. We have an additional 46 dealers that are parts and service dealers only; they support those trucks in their markets.

“Out of those 197 dealers, 53 are what we call certified ultimate dealers.”

Brakeall said those are the best of the best dealers.

Hino markets its products as “More than a truck.”

“What we mean by that if you look at the truck market today, there are a lot of similarities among the manufacturers, same engines, same transmissions” Brakeall said. “So what do we do to differentiate us from the others? There are several things – the way we build our trucks, the quality control we put into our trucks, our quality checks are second to none.”

Jeffrey Saulton can be reached at jsaulton@newsandsentinel.com.