Preston Feight: PACCAR CEO, Age, Career, Salary and Business Story

Introduction

Preston Feight is the Chief Executive Officer of PACCAR Inc., one of the biggest names in commercial truck manufacturing.

His path was not quick.

He worked as an engineer at Ford Motor Company and AlliedSignal before joining PACCAR around 1998. From there, Feight moved through product planning, research, engineering, sales and management. He ran Kenworth. Then he took charge of DAF Trucks in Europe.

In July 2019, PACCAR named him CEO.

Right now, Feight also serves as Lead Independent Director of Deere & Company, the business behind John Deere equipment.

There is plenty of verified information about his working life. His private life is different. Reliable public records do not confirm his exact birthday, wife, children, parents or personal net worth.

Preston Feight Quick Facts

Who Is Preston Feight?

Preston Feight is an American business executive and engineer best known as the CEO of PACCAR Inc.

PACCAR builds commercial trucks through brands including Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF.

Feight became CEO on July 1, 2019, but his work with PACCAR began much earlier.

Basically, he grew inside the company.

He worked close to the product first, dealing with engineering and truck development. Then came sales and marketing. Management followed. His work later took him from Kenworth in North America to DAF in Europe.

That mix gave him experience across several parts of the truck business before he reached PACCAR’s top job.

How Old Is Preston Feight?

Preston Feight was listed as 58 years old in PACCAR’s March 2026 proxy statement.

His exact date of birth is not publicly confirmed in the reliable corporate records used for this profile.

So an exact birthday should not be guessed.

The same goes for his birthplace. PACCAR and other strong sources focus mostly on his education and career rather than personal background.

Preston Feight Education

Feight studied mechanical engineering before moving into senior business management.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Northern Arizona University.

Later, he earned a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado.

You can see how those two areas fit his later work.

Mechanical engineering gave him a technical base. Engineering management helped him move toward larger business responsibilities.

Feight has also been identified as a Professional Engineer.

Plus, Deere and Seattle University material have described him as a commercial truck driver.

That is an interesting detail because his connection with trucks goes beyond meetings and boardrooms. He has technical training and practical familiarity with the kind of vehicles PACCAR sells.

Preston Feight Career Timeline

Here is how his career developed.

His Career Before PACCAR

Feight worked for two large industrial businesses before PACCAR.

First came Ford Motor Company.

PACCAR’s public material says he spent about six years working as an engineer at Ford.

He later spent about two years as an engineer at AlliedSignal Inc.

That means Feight already had around eight years of engineering work behind him before joining PACCAR.

The exact dates of those early jobs have not been clearly published by strong first-party sources, so it makes sense to stick with the time periods PACCAR itself reports.

When Did Preston Feight Join PACCAR?

Feight appears to have joined PACCAR around 1998.

There are several ways to check this.

In 2016, PACCAR said he had been with the company for 18 years.

When he was chosen as CEO in 2019, the company described him as a 21-year PACCAR veteran.

Then PACCAR’s 2026 proxy listed about 28 years of company experience.

Those records all point to roughly 1998.

An exact first working day has not been publicly confirmed.

Building His Career at Kenworth

Feight spent many of his PACCAR years working with Kenworth Truck Company.

His earlier jobs included Director of Product Planning and Director of Research and Development.

These positions kept him close to truck design and development.

Then came a bigger technical job.

From August 2008 through March 2012, Feight served as Chief Engineer of Kenworth Truck Company.

This was a clear step up.

As chief engineer, he worked at a senior level inside one of PACCAR’s biggest truck brands. The job connected his academic engineering background with real commercial vehicle development.

From Engineering to Sales

In April 2012, Feight moved into a different side of Kenworth.

He became Assistant General Manager for Marketing and Sales.

He held that position through December 2014.

The shift matters because engineering and sales ask different questions.

Engineers think about how a truck works, how parts fit, how systems perform and how designs can change.

Customers care about daily use.

They look at fuel cost, reliability, maintenance, payload, driver comfort, downtime and what the truck earns over time.

Feight now had to understand both sides.

General Manager of Kenworth

In January 2015, Feight became General Manager of Kenworth Truck Company.

He was also named a PACCAR vice president.

At this point, he was no longer working inside one narrow business area. He was running a major truck brand.

Kenworth has a long presence in the North American commercial vehicle market, so the job came with much wider responsibility.

Feight stayed in the position until March 2016.

Then PACCAR sent him to Europe.

Preston Feight and DAF Trucks

Feight became President of DAF Trucks N.V. on April 1, 2016.

DAF is PACCAR’s European truck manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

His responsibility also covered Leyland Trucks in the United Kingdom.

This gave Feight experience outside the North American truck market.

European road transport works under different vehicle rules, customer needs and fleet conditions. Truck size, road networks, emissions requirements and operating patterns can all change from one region to another.

So running DAF gave Feight another view of the business.

During his time there, DAF remained a major player in Europe’s heavy-truck market.

The company reported a 15.3% European heavy-truck market share in 2017.

That was a business result produced by the wider DAF team, dealers, workers and management. It should not be treated as one person’s achievement.

His ACEA Position

While working in Europe, Feight also took an industry position.

In 2017, he became Chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Board of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, better known as ACEA.

He followed Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt.

The board worked on issues affecting commercial vehicles across Europe, including emissions, road freight, safety and different powertrain choices.

Feight held the chairmanship for one year.

Joachim Drees of MAN Truck & Bus took the position for 2018.

Becoming PACCAR Executive Vice President

PACCAR promoted Feight again in 2018.

He became Executive Vice President on September 1, 2018.

His work included responsibility for DAF Trucks and PACCAR Parts.

The move brought him closer to the parent company’s main leadership team after years of running major operating businesses.

He held the position until June 2019.

Then came the CEO job.

When Did Preston Feight Become CEO of PACCAR?

Preston Feight became CEO of PACCAR on July 1, 2019.

PACCAR announced the decision in April of that year.

Feight also joined PACCAR’s Board of Directors.

He succeeded Ron Armstrong, who had served as CEO since 2014.

By that point, Feight had spent around 21 years working inside PACCAR.

His career had already covered product planning, research, engineering, sales, Kenworth management, European truck operations and wider company management.

That gave PACCAR an internal CEO who knew many parts of its business first-hand.

What Does PACCAR Do?

PACCAR is a major commercial vehicle manufacturer.

Its best-known truck brands include:

• Kenworth
• Peterbilt
• DAF

The company also works in parts, financial services and powertrain-related businesses.

PACCAR Parts supports customers with replacement components and related services.

PACCAR Financial Services provides financing and leasing support in different markets.

So Feight’s CEO job covers much more than the sale of new trucks.

What Does Preston Feight Handle as CEO?

As CEO, Feight leads PACCAR’s main corporate operations and works with the board and senior leadership team.

A lot is changing in commercial trucking right now.

Truck makers are testing and selling different types of powertrains, including battery-electric systems and newer hydrogen-related options. They also continue to work on diesel technology, connected trucks and driver-assistance systems.

But fleet buyers still ask very basic questions.

How much does the truck cost?

How far can it go?

How much can it carry?

How often will it stop for repairs?

Can drivers use it comfortably?

Will it make financial sense?

Those questions keep the industry tied to real-world operating costs even as truck technology changes.

PACCAR Revenue and Profit

PACCAR reported $28.44 billion in revenue for 2025.

Its reported net income was about $2.38 billion.

The company reported adjusted net income of roughly $2.64 billion after excluding a non-recurring European litigation charge.

For the second quarter of 2026, PACCAR reported around $7.55 billion in revenue and $752 million in net income.

These are PACCAR results.

They come from the work of a large company spread across manufacturing plants, engineering teams, dealers, suppliers, financial operations and many other areas.

It would be inaccurate to credit them to Feight alone.

Preston Feight at Deere & Company

Feight also holds an important position at Deere & Company.

He joined Deere’s Board of Directors on November 1, 2024.

Deere pointed to his background in manufacturing, engineering, powertrains, business operations and financial services when announcing the appointment.

His position grew in July 2025.

That month, Feight became Lead Independent Director of Deere & Company.

Deere’s 2026 proxy also listed him as a member of the Audit Review Committee.

This means his work now reaches beyond commercial trucks and into the board governance of another large industrial manufacturer.

Washington Roundtable

Feight is also listed as a member of the Washington Roundtable.

The group brings together senior executives from major employers in Washington state.

PACCAR is based in Bellevue, Washington, and the Roundtable identifies Feight as PACCAR CEO.

Seattle University Connection

Seattle University has featured Feight through its Albers Executive Speaker Series.

He has spoken there about trucks, transportation and business leadership.

A Seattle University page published in 2023 also identified Feight as a member of the university’s Board of Directors at that time.

For now, a current 2026 university board listing confirming that position has not been independently verified.

So it is safer to say he was identified as a board member in 2023 rather than claim the position still continues.

Preston Feight Salary

Preston Feight’s PACCAR base salary for 2025 was $1,690,385.

But salary tells only part of the pay story.

Senior executives may receive cash incentives, stock awards, stock options, retirement-related benefits and other compensation.

PACCAR first reported Feight’s 2025 compensation at $12,618,865 before his last long-term incentive amount was set.

In April 2026, PACCAR approved a $6,834,144 long-term incentive cash award.

That changed his finalized 2025 total compensation to $19,453,009.

Here is the recent comparison:

These figures are not the same as normal salary.

SEC compensation totals can contain several different kinds of executive pay.

Preston Feight Stock Holdings

PACCAR’s March 2026 proxy reported 468,276 shares and share-related interests for Feight under beneficial ownership reporting rules.

That represented less than 1% of PACCAR.

But there is a catch.

The number does not mean Feight had 468,276 unrestricted shares ready to sell.

Corporate ownership reports can include restricted stock units, savings plan holdings and stock options that meet specific reporting rules.

PACCAR’s filing included 17,599 shares through its savings investment plan and 60,558 restricted stock units.

During 2025, Feight also exercised stock options covering 85,275 shares.

PACCAR reported an exercise value of about $3.54 million.

Preston Feight Pension and Retirement Benefits

PACCAR also reports pension values for senior executives.

At the end of 2025, Feight had an accumulated pension benefit value of about $1.25 million under PACCAR’s standard retirement plan.

His reported accumulated value under the Supplemental Retirement Plan was about $17.11 million.

These numbers are retirement-plan values.

They should not be treated as cash sitting in a bank account, and they should not be used to invent a net-worth figure.

What Does the “R.” in R. Preston Feight Stand For?

PACCAR regularly uses the name R. Preston Feight.

But the company does not explain what the initial “R.” stands for in the material reviewed for this profile.

So the full first name behind the initial should not be guessed.

What Makes Preston Feight’s Career Different?

Let us look at the actual pattern.

Feight began as an engineer.

Then his work moved into truck product planning and research.

After that came chief engineering, sales, Kenworth management, European leadership and PACCAR corporate management.

This is a long internal career rather than a short jump between CEO jobs.

His time at DAF also gave him direct experience with a major European truck operation.

Then, years after becoming PACCAR CEO, Deere chose him for its board and later made him Lead Independent Director.

Basically, the same work themes keep appearing throughout his career: engineering, manufacturing, trucks, heavy equipment and business management.

Final Thought

Preston Feight’s verified career gives readers plenty to work with.

He started in engineering, spent years with Ford and AlliedSignal, joined PACCAR around 1998 and worked his way through Kenworth and DAF before becoming PACCAR CEO in 2019.

He now also holds a senior board position at Deere.

The facts are clear.

His private life is less visible, and that is where good reporting needs to stop guessing. There is no solid public confirmation of his exact birthday, wife, children, parents or personal net worth.

What we can verify already tells a strong story: an engineer who spent decades learning the truck business before reaching the top of PACCAR.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Preston Feight?

Preston Feight is the CEO of PACCAR Inc., the company behind Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF trucks.

How old is Preston Feight?

PACCAR’s March 2026 proxy lists Preston Feight as 58 years old.

When did Preston Feight become PACCAR CEO?

He became CEO of PACCAR on July 1, 2019.

When did Preston Feight join PACCAR?

Company records point to approximately 1998.

Where did Preston Feight go to college?

He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northern Arizona University and an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado.

Did Preston Feight work at Ford?

Yes. PACCAR says he spent around six years working as an engineer at Ford Motor Company.

Did Preston Feight run Kenworth?

Yes. He became General Manager of Kenworth Truck Company in January 2015.

Was Preston Feight president of DAF?

Yes. Feight became President of DAF Trucks in April 2016.

Is Preston Feight on Deere’s board?

Yes. He joined Deere’s board in November 2024 and became Lead Independent Director in July 2025.

What is Preston Feight’s salary?

His 2025 PACCAR base salary was $1,690,385.

How much was Preston Feight paid in 2025?

His finalized PACCAR total compensation for 2025 was $19,453,009.

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