Kenworth trucks join Pape business offerings.

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

The Pape Group has added Kenworth trucks to its rugged line-up of heavy equipment and aircraft.

The Eugene-based industrial conglomerate said it has acquired Central California Kenworth, including its five dealerships in Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Paso Robles and Madera, and created a new division called Pape Trucks.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Company officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday.

"Pape Trucks further strengthens the Pape presence in markets where we already serve the capital equipment needs of our customers," Randy Pape, president and CEO of The Pape Group, said in a statement.

The acquisition of the Kenworth dealerships is not Pape's first foray into the truck business. In 2003, the company announced it would distribute Freightliner-brand Sterling and Western State trucks in Oregon.

The privately held Pape business empire does business in seven Western states. Its various divisions sell and service heavy equipment such as backhoes and bulldozers; materials handling equipment, such as forklifts and shelving; smaller equipment such as ditchdiggers and tractors; and aircraft.

Edward Pape founded the company in 1938, selling Allis-Chalmers tractors from a store on East Fifth Avenue in downtown Eugene. Brothers Dean and Ed Pape ran the company in the post-war years. Randy Pape took over in the mid-1980s, the third generation of his family to lead the company.

In addition to their trucking, heavy equipment and aircraft businesses, the Pape family controls Liberty Financial Group, which includes Liberty Bank; Sanipac, a garbage-hauling and recycling firm; and EcoSort, a recyclable goods processing company.