A 3rd Generation Family
Owned Business...
Continuing the Legacy.

In 1918, a company by the name of O.T. Potter Co. was founded by Orin Potter.  O.T. Potter Co. Primary business was to supply automotive after market fenders and exhaust systems.  In 1940, J.R. Webster and his brother Walter Webster joined forces with Orin Potter and changed the name of the company to Potter Webster Company.

In 1965, Dennis Webster, son of J.R. Webster came to work for P.W.C. full time.  At this time the primary business was supplying friction products and friction related services to the logging industry.  In 1970, Potter Webster moved to a facility on 130 S.E. 7th Avenue.  At this time the primary business began to shift to distributing heavy duty truck parts, therefore the company added the product lines of several major brand name manufacturers.  As the company expanded so did the building, there were two additions to the original building bought in 1970.  In the mid 1970’s, Dennis Webster began to manage the day to day operations of the business.   J. R. Webster Died in 1986, leaving Dennis Webster as the President and General Manager of the Company.

In the early 1980’s, Potter Webster Co. expanded their buying power by becoming a member of a buying cooperative, H.D. America (HDA).  Having access to HDA’s buying power allowed the company to be price competitive with larger companies.   In 1983, P.W.C. opened a second store in Longview, Washington, which services the logging community.  In 1984, P.W.C. bought out and acquired certain assets of R.W. Conroy Company, a distributor of Dana/Spicer truck replacement parts.   In 1987, P.W.C. acquired a small shop in Hermiston Oregon and opened up their third facility.  This Facility did not show profitably for P.W.C., so we closed the doors in 1991.

In 1987, we opened our first division of P.W.C. called Driveline Express Company which rebuilds driveshafts both in our Portland and the Longview location.  In 1991, a second Division was created, Axle Systems Company.   Axle Systems Company provides components to truck trailer manufacturers.  Sales of this division have expanded rapidly to make it the second largest part of P.W.C.’s sales.  In 1993, P.W.C. opened our third division, Hydraulic and PTO Supply.  This division specializes in servicing the power transmission output market.

In 1994, the 3rd Generation came on board.  Vicki Webster-Calcagno started in the Accounting office and moved up to her current Position as the Marketing/Sales Manager.  Vicki Graduated from Oregon State University in Merchandising and has moved Potter Webster Company into the next generation of Technology.  On January 17, 2000, Potter Webster Company opened it’s brand new 51,000 sq. ft facility off of Vancouver Way in Portland.   We closed all of our facilities in Portland, 130 SE 7th, 1020 N. Marine Dr and 11051 N Vancouver Way.  Finally, the Portland location is operating all under one roof.  

In 2001 Potter Webster Company acquired a new division called Custom Parts and Trailer Supply.   We Changed the name Custom Trailer Parts.  This division specializes in Small Trailer Parts.  We gained about 3000 parts and 30 different product lines.  In  2005, we opened a service shop up for light trailer repairs, which would get us in the door for servicing other vehicles in the future.  In 2006 we acquired Hitch-Mart who had been in business since 1994.  Hitch Mart specializes in fabricating Hitches and trailer repair.  Hitch-Mart currently resides in a building a crossed the street at 10 NE Walker St..  

As you can probably tell, P.W.C. is constantly expanding their operations and will continue to do so, to stay up with the constantly moving industry.  P.W.C. is a very strong company with over 150 product lines, with more than 85,000 parts in stock, loyal employees and a great customer base, we plan to stay in the industry for a long time.