Daimler Truck North America has announced the expanded role of Kevin Bangston as president and CEO of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., in addition to his current role as president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses, effective May 3, 2024. Bangston succeeded Jeff Sather, is retiring after 23 years at Daimler.
With more than 25 years of experience in the transportation industry, Bangston will lead Freightliner into its next era of business. Bangston began his Daimler Truck career in 2001, working in corporate finance. His success in various roles led to international leadership positions in Germany, Southeast Asia and Japan. He returned in 2019 as the general manager of distribution network development and has been serving in his current role at Thomas Built Buses since June 2021. Under his leadership at Thomas Built Buses, Bangston helped fuel Thomas Built’s growth in the electric vehicle market, having recently announced the delivery of their 1,000th all-electric Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley school bus.
Both Freightliner and Thomas teams will report to Bangston under this new structure where he is responsible for strategic vision, overseeing operations and driving growth across key business areas of Daimler's specialty vehicles division, which includes recreational vehicles, walk-in vans and delivery vehicles, as well as commercial, shuttle and school buses.
Bangston earned a master's degree in international business from the Moore School at the University of South Carolina.
