Common term for any truck produced by the Peterbilt Motors Company - a division of the Pacific Car and Foundry Company (PACCAR), which also owns rival brand Kenworth.
The company was formed in 1938 by T.A. Peterman, a logging industry magnate who bought the assets of the bankrupt Fageol Motors Company of Oakland, California. They developed one of the trucking industry's first cab-over designs in an attempt to circumvent truck length limits. The company also introduced the 90-degree-tilt hood. In addition to transports, they are major supplies of garbage trucks.