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Terex Trucks At Bingham

This page last updated on September 15, 2026.

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(These timelines focus on the companies and specific models of trucks used by Kennecott at Bingham.)

Terex

Terex (1968) -> Bucyrus (2009) -> Caterpillar (2011)

(Read about Euclid and Terex at ConstructionEquipment.com)

Terex Corporation was the third largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world with models specialized in construction, infrastructure, quarrying, surface mining, shipping, transportation, refining, and utility industries.

Terex Name — GM coined the "Terex" name in 1968 from the Latin words "terra" (earth) and "rex" (king) for its construction equipment products and trucks not covered by the anti-trust ruling in the U.S.

The Electro-Motive Division Cleveland Plant No. 3, after ending production of railroad locomotives in Cleveland in October 1954, was used by other divisions of General Motors, including Euclid, which later became Terex. These GM divisions used the plant (or portions of the plant) for a wide variety of manufacturing and warehousing purposes. Several aerial photos of the plant in later years show that "Terex" was painted on the plant roof.

Terex Created After Euclid Sale (1968)

General Motors acquired Euclid on September 30, 1953 and made it a division of GMC on January 1, 1954. In the mid-1950s, GMC built a new factory for Euclid at Hudson, Ohio, 30 miles southeast of Cleveland. (The former EMD Cleveland plant was in Brooklyn, Ohio, 10 miles southwest of downtown Cleveland.)

The U. S. Department of Justice filed an anti-trust action against GMC on October 15, 1959 on the allegation that GMC threatened to control the off-highway truck market. The suit lasted many years as it worked its way through the various courts. As part of the final settlement in 1967, GMC negotiated with White Motor Corporation for the sale of Euclid mechanical-drive off-highway trucks.

(Read more about Euclid)

Paying $24 million cash, on February 15, 1968 White Motor Corporation purchased the line of Euclid mechanical-drive off-highway trucks, with an effective control date of July 1, 1968. White Motor acquired the Euclid name, the old Euclid plant in Cleveland, and the rights to sell the products through the fifty dealers in North America. White Motor Corporation operated Euclid as a subsidiary under the name of Euclid, Inc. White Motor Corporation sold Euclid, Inc., to Daimler-Benz AG as a subsidiary in August 1977.

After the sale of Euclid off-highway truck designs to White Motor in 1968, GMC retained the right to build and sell mechanical-drive off-highway trucks built in its Canadian plants and in Scotland, but was barred from re-entering the US market until July 1, 1972. The former Euclid earthmover (tractor, scraper and loader) lines were also retained by GM and were produced by its Earthmoving Equipment Division, which became Terex.

U.S. Justice Department ruling was the impetus behind the birth of Terex in 1968. General Motors had to discontinue the manufacture and sale of mechanical-drive off-highway trucks in the United States for a period of four years, and divest itself of the Euclid name. After the divestiture, Terex was the name assigned to all GM off-highway products, which included mechanical-drive off-highway trucks and other earthmoving equipment made in its plants in London, Ontario, and in Scotland. In December 1968 the location in Scotland, known as Euclid (Great Britain), Ltd., was changed to General Motors Scotland, Ltd., and General Motors in the U. S. lost its ability for international manufacturing and marketing.

February 1968
On February 15, 1968 White Motor Corporation purchased the line of Euclid off-highway trucks. GMC retained the right to build and market haulers from Canadian plants and the former Euclid factories in Hudson and Scotland, but was barred from re-entering the US market until July 1, 1972. The former Euclid tractor, scraper and loader lines were also retained by GM and were produced by its Earthmoving Equipment Division, which became Terex. The British operation retained the Euclid (Great Britain), Ltd. name until December 1968, when it was renamed General Motors Scotland, Ltd. Euclid lost its international manufacturing and marketing in the deal. (Historical Construction Equipment Association archives)

(This 1968 sale of Euclid to White Motor was the result of the government's anti-trust suit against General Motors. GM retained parts of the Euclid manufacturing capability, but gave up the Euclid brand name for U. S. sales. GM also gave up the designs for mechanical drive off-highway trucks, but retained the designs for off-highway electric drive trucks. These electric trucks were marketed under the Terex brand.)

GM owned Euclid from 1953 to 1968, including the former EMD locomotive plant at Cleveland. In 1968 GM was forced to sell its Euclid Division.

The GM-Euclid anti-trust case...

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/183/858/1973615/

Having lost its Euclid anti-trust suit brought by the U. S. government, General Motors renamed its earthmoving business as the Terex Division, retaining the distinctive Euclid "Hilite Green" color. The government brought the anti-trust suit in 1959, and with the prospect of a possible loss of the legal action, GM had little spent time or money developing the Euclid off-highway trucks.

Four-Year No-Compete — After the sale of Euclid to White Motor Corporation, General Motors established the Terex brand. Under the sales agreement with White, GM was not allowed to produce trucks in competition with White for four years – from July 1, 1968, to July 1, 1972. GM could produce off-highway haul trucks but could not sell them in the US, and continued its international sales of the former Euclid designs. Production of the Euclid designs (rebranded as Terex) continued from the London, Ontario, plant, as well as the plant in Scotland.

Under the sales agreement to White, during the four-year no-compete period, GM it could still engineer and test prototype units meant for potential sale. And for an additional three years, could not sell the former Euclid designs within the U. S. market.

"In the four years that GM could not sell or build trucks, they were busy designing new trucks from the ground up. GM adopted the Terex name for the remaining former Euclid products, and in 1972, the TEREX truck line was introduced to the world. These trucks would be known as the 33 series trucks. The first trucks built were the 33-11 (80 Ton), 33-07 (35 Ton), and the 33-15 (150 Ton). The 33-11 and 33-07 were built in the Hudson, Ohio plants, while the electric-drive models – the 33-15 170 Ton and the only 33-19 built – were manufactured in London, Ontario, Canada." ((Historical Construction Equipment Association))

GM-Terex reentered the already crowded U.S. off-highway truck business in 1975. The antitrust consent decree stipulated that for a period of three years (until 1975) after GM's re-entry into the market (in 1972), GM could not sell or offer to sell any products covered under either the consent decree of the sales agreement. GM introduced a new line of Terex rucks in 1975, which included five models that ranged from the 33-05 at 28-tons to the 33-15 at 150-tons. The new models used up-to-date frame, body, and suspension designs.

The Terex 33-19 "Titan" and the 33-15, both electric trucks, were built by the GM Diesel Division in London, Ontario. The other 33-series eventually replaced the Euclid R-series trucks, which had been in continuous production at GM's plant in Scotland since it was opened by Euclid in 1950. The largest Terex mechanical-drive truck was the 120-ton 33-14, introduced in 1978.

Terex Timeline

(The antitrust consent decree, and the sale of the Euclid-design trucks to White Motors both took effect on July 1, 1968. GM was allowed to continue manufacturing its former Euclid designs in both London, Ontario, and in Scotland, and continue to sell them under the Terex brand across the globe, but not in the U.S. For the U. S. market, GM was restricted to wait four years before it reentered the market with new designs, and an additional three years to offer any of the former Euclid designs.)

October 15, 1968
"Euclid Is Now Terex. - General Motors' Earthmoving Division at Hudson [Ohio] announced late today that it has selected Terex as the name for its product line and that construction has started on its multi-million-dollar engineering and test center there. The division has sold its line of haulers and its old identifying name of 'Euclid' to White Motor Corp. The new name comes from the Latin words 'terra' and 'rex' and translates as 'king of the earth.'" (Akron [Ohio] Beacon Journal, October 15, 1968)

October 16, 1968
"Akron, Ohio (AP) — The General Motors Earthmoving Equipment Division announced Tuesday [October 15] that construction has been started on a multimillion-dollar engineering and test center at its headquarters in Hudson, Ohio. The test center is scheduled to open next fall [1969] and will coordinate engineering and development activities under one roof. The division has selected the name Terex for its line of scrapers, front-end loaders and crawler tractors. The search for a new product name was started several months ago when General Motors sold its U.S.-based hauler line to the White Motor Corp., along with the Euclid name. GM subsequently named its Euclid Division the Earthmoving Equipment Division." (Flint [Michigan] Journal, October 16, 1968)

December 31, 1969
"A GM Product - A 45-ton Terex off-highway rear dump truck is shown ready for shipment to Sierra Leone, Africa. The huge vehicle was built by the Diesel Division, General Motors of Canada Limited, London, Ontario. During 1969, GM has exported Terex trucks to 14 foreign countries." (North Bay [Ontario] Nugget, December 31, 1969)

1972
In 1972, GM's Terex reentered the off-highway mining truck market with a new model line of electric-drive trucks known as the 33-series. The first was the 33-15, a 150-ton rear-dump truck. The 33-series trucks were introduced from 1971 to 1974, filling out a seven-model lineup from the 33-03 (22-tons) to the giant diesel-electric 33-19 (350 tons), known as the "Titan," the world's largest truck, at 350 tons in capacity. The 350-ton Terex Titan and the 150-ton 33-15 were both electric-drive trucks, and were built by the GM Diesel Division in London, Ontario.

July 31, 1972
From the New York Times, July 31, 1972.

1973
The Terex 33-19 "Titan" was assembled in 1973 by the General Motors Diesel Division in London, Ontario, and officially debuted to the public in October 1974 at the American Mining Congress in Las Vegas.

After its debut in Las Vegas in 1974, the Titan entered active service in January 1975 at Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain iron mine in California. Although planned to enter mass production by 1976, economic softening in the mining and coal industries canceled those plans. The 1973 prototype was the only Terex 33-19 ever built. Featuring a 350-short-ton payload capacity and a 3,300-horsepower locomotive-derived V16 diesel engine (the same diesel engine as used in the Union Pacific DDA40X locomotive), it held the title of the world's highest-capacity haul truck for 25 years until 1998 when the Caterpillar 797B was released. The Titan was retired in 1991. It was restored and now stands as a public display in Sparwood, British Columbia.

"In 1974, Kennecott Copper ordered eight 33-15s for its Bingham Canyon mine in Utah. One of them suffered serious damage in a wreck and was written off by TEREX. Wanting to see it saved, it was purchased by an individual and moved to Oklahoma for display as all the other 33-15s were cut up." (Historical Construction Equipment Association)

Kennecott Copper Corporation issued a purchase order for the lease of five Terex dump trucks from General Motors Corporation. The trucks were delivered and Kennecott obtained an insurance policy from St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company with a $100,000 deductible. After delivery, the brakes on one of the trucks failed, causing the truck to roll down a road and collide into an earthen berm. The truck sustained substantial damage. Kennecott and St. Paul paid for the necessary repairs and instituted this action against G.M. for breach of warranty. A jury found that the truck was defective and unreasonably dangerous and that the condition of the truck was in breach of warranty. GM appealed and won on a technicality of Utah insurance law, finding that the language of the lease contract was not absolutely clear. (Kennecott Copper Corp. v. General Motors Corp, 730 F.2d 1380; 10th Cir.1984)

(The Terex trucks at Bingham were leased, and that Kennecott returned them as not suitable for service at Bingham.)

(Read more about the Terex Model 33-15 at the Historical Construction Equipment Association, including the organization's preservation of one of the trucks used briefly by Kennecott)

(Read a separate news story about the same Model 33-15 truck and how it was preserved.)

September 23, 1980
"General Motors Corp. officials will neither confirm nor deny rumors which have surfaced that a West German company, IBH Holding AG of Mainz, is negotiating to buy the Terex division of GM, headquartered in Hudson. Terex makes off-road equipment for mining and off-road construction. At the Hudson and Brooklyn plants here, there are 1,531 at work with 573 laid off at Hudson and 349 at Terex West in Brooklyn, a spokesman said." (Cleveland Press, September 23, 1980)

By December 1980, due to the worldwide recession, about a third of Terex's 2,700 person workforce at the Hudson plant had been laid off. (United Press International, December 19, 1980)

January 1, 1981
GM announced on September 29, 1980 that it had sold its Terex Division to IBH Holding AG, a West German company and manufacturer light- and medium-duty construction equipment. The sale was to take effect on January 1, 1981. The sale included GM taking a $22 million stake in IBH. GM retained a 13 percent interest in the new Terex IBH company. (Pittsburgh Post Gazette, September 30, 1980, "yesterday"; Lexington [Kentucky] Herald, November 29, 1980)

From 1981 to 1983, Terex was owned by the German conglomerate IBH Holding AG, although the manufacture and design of the Terex electric trucks were retained by GM. Under IBH ownership Terex was reorganized as Terex Equipment Limited, a manufacturing subsidiary in Scotland, and Terex USA. By 1983, IBH was the third largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world. When IBH went into bankruptcy in November 1983, GM purchased Terex back.

November 4, 1983
Terex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the same time, Terex's IBH Holdings filed for protection under Germany's bankruptcy laws. By that time, GM held about 19 percent stake in IBH Holdings. With IBH still owing on its purchase price, in 1982 GM had forgiven DM100 million (about $39 million) in that debt, and in 1983, GM forgave an additional DM120 million (about $47 million) in debt. At the same time in 1982, a Saudi Arabian group took a, an 18 percent interest in the IBH company, making GM and the Saudis the largest stakeholders. (New York Times, May 4, 1982; November 8, 1983)

February 20, 1984
"Detroit, Feb. 20 (Reuters) — The General Motors Corporation plans to acquire the business of Terex Ltd. of Scotland, which has been in receivership since last November. G.M. said today that that it expected to complete the acquisition this month. Terms were not disclosed." (New York Times, February 21, 1984) (This was a settlement that gave GM full ownership of the Scotland plant in return for its share of the bankrupt larger IBH company.)

Terex Sold To Northwest Engineering (1986)

In 1986, Northwest Engineering purchased Terex USA from GM. One year later, Northwest Engineering also bought Terex Equipment Limited based in Scotland, and Northwest decided to close the Ohio plant and move all the operations to Scotland.

December 31, 1986
Northwest Engineering acquired the interests of Terex Corporation. It acquired Terex Equipment Ltd. of Scotland on June 30, 1987. (New York Times, February 11, 1988)

"Northwest Engineering Co., based in Green Bay, Wis., said its subsidiary, Terex Corp. of Hudson, Ohio, completed the previously announced acquisition of Terex Equipment Ltd., of Newhouse, Scotland, a subsidiary of General Motors Corp." (Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1987)

In 1988, Northwest Engineering and Terex Coproration merged, with Terex Corporation as the name of the surviving company. The designs and interests of the former Northwest Engineering was placed under a new subsidiary by that name, as a division of the new Terex Corporation.

In 1988, Terex purchased truck builder Unit Rig of Tulsa, Oklahoma, taking the Unit Rig line of electric-drive trucks into its catalog of available models.

In 1988, Northwest Engineering acquired Koehring Cranes & Excavators and Benton Engineering, along with Unit Rig and Equipment Company. With these acquisitions, Terex Corporation and its subsidiaries and divisions (Terex Equipment Limited, Koehring Cranes and Excavators, Northwest Engineering, and Unit Rig) designed and manufactured heavy duty, off-highway, earthmoving equipment and cranes. The company's products were used in construction, mining, industrial operations and by governments in the construction of roads, dams, commercial and residential buildings, as well as for material handling in the mining, lumber, scrap and refuse industries.

The Terex plant in Scotland continued to manufacture the 33-series mechanical-drive off-highway dump trucks, introducing new models and updating others throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, Terex made an agreement with German O&K to build Terex trucks using the O&K name. In 1997, five sizes of O&K trucks from 35 to 100 tons were offered as O&K Models K-35, K-40, K-45, K-60, and K-100. These same trucks were sold as the Terex 3335, 3340, 3345, 3360, and 33100. Terex also offered a line of four articulated dump trucks with up to 40 tons capacity. In late 1997, Terex announced that it had purchased O&K's mining division, including the O&K off-highway the haul truck designs.

1970s: Technological Peak under General Motors

GM's Terex division produced some of the largest heavy-construction machines in the world.

1980s: The IBH Buyout, Insolvency, and Restructuring

In 1981, GM sold Terex to German manufacturer IBH Holding AG. Following a global economic recession, IBH filed for bankruptcy in late 1983, and ownership briefly reverted back to GM.

Financier Randolph W. Lenz—owner of Northwest Engineering Co.—bought Terex USA in 1986 and its Scottish manufacturing plant (Terex Equipment Ltd.) in 1987. In 1988, Lenz reorganized his machinery holdings under the name Terex Corporation.

Northwest Engineering also bought Bucyrus-Erie's Construction Equipment Division, which manufactured heavy earthmoving machinery, crawler attachments, and the heavy-duty Dynahoe backhoe loader line.

1990s: Going Public and Acquisitions

In 1991 Terex became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker 'TEX'.

After 1995 Terex grew dramatically by acquiring distressed or niche manufacturers, including:

• Cranes & Material Handling: PPM, Clark Material Handling, American Crane, and Peiner.
• Mining & Earthmoving: Payhauler and O&K Mining (Orenstein & Koppel).
• Crushing & Screening: Powerscreen, Finlay, and Cedarapids.

In 1996, the Terex Corporation was split into two operations Terex Cranes and Terex Trucks, the latter based at Motherwell, Scotland. In 1997, Terex Cranes became Terex Lifting, and Terex Trucks became Terex Earthmoving.

2000s–Present: Work Platforms, Focus, and Modernization

In 2002 Terex acquired Genie, a manufacturer of aerial work platforms and telehandlers, which became one of Terex's most profitable core segments and introduced modern lean manufacturing practices to the company.

2009
Caterpillar bought Terex's mining group in late 2009. (DieselProgressOnline, January 6, 2011, citing the Milwaukee Business Journal)

Over the 2010s, Terex streamlined its focus. It sold its heavy mining equipment division to Bucyrus/Caterpillar in 2010 and its off-highway truck business (Terex Trucks) to Volvo CE in 2014.

Today, Terex Corporation is focused primarily on two core global segments: Materials Processing (crushing and screening equipment) and Aerial Work Platforms (Genie lifts and utilities).

Terex Sources include:

• online newspapers
• AutoEvolution.com website
• William Haycraft's book "Yellow Steel," pages 226-227
• Keith Haddock's book "Giant Earthmovers, An Illustrated History," pages 121-122

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