A Kenworth T680, assembled by employees at Kenworth's manufacturing plant in Chillicothe, Ohio recently returned with special cargo — the 2025 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.
The T680, operated by Michael Porter, based at Swift Transportation's Phoenix, Ariz., Terminal, stopped at the Kenworth Chillicothe plant for a private event on Nov. 16 so Kenworth employees could see "The People's Tree" before it completes its journey to Washington, D.C.
This year's U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, a 53-ft. red fir affectionately nicknamed "Silver Belle", was harvested from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada in October. Since its harvest, Porter has transported the tree to communities across the country for special events as part of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tour. This year's tour theme celebrates the "Spirit of the Silver State."
"Our employees take great pride in assembling The world's best trucks and welcoming back the T680, built right here in Chillicothe, has become a special way for our employees and their families to kick off the holiday season," said Doug VanZuiden, Kenworth Chillicothe plant manager.
Knight-Swift, this year's official designated tour carrier, selected Porter to transport the 2025 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Kenworth supplied the specially decaled T680, which is equipped with a 76-in. sleeper and the Paccar powertrain featuring the Paccar MX-13, Paccar TX-12 automated transmission and Paccar DX-40 tandem rear axles. The Kenworth T680 has a special graphic design that features Nevada's National Forest. For the second year, real-time GPS location tracking of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is provided by Kenworth's TruckTech+ connected truck technology.
This year marks the 12th consecutive year that a Kenworth truck will deliver the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. The tree will be delivered on November 21 to the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The annual tree lighting ceremony will be held in early December.
For more information, visit kenworth.com.
