PACCAR Internships 2027: Programs, Pay and How to Apply

PACCAR hires interns year-round across its divisions rather than running one single summer class. ApplyBolt's live board currently shows real fall 2026 postings, including a Safety Intern role, a Human Resources Fall Intern role and a Machining Production Management co-op, and PACCAR's own postings say undergraduate interns are paid $25 an hour with graduate students at $30 an hour.

Most students have never heard of PACCAR by name, but they've almost certainly seen its trucks. It's the parent company behind Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF, three of the biggest names in North American and European trucking.

What PACCAR actually does

PACCAR is a global manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, built and sold under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. Beyond the trucks themselves, PACCAR runs related businesses including PACCAR Parts, PACCAR Financial and PACCAR Engine Company, which makes the diesel engines that power its own vehicles. It's one of the largest truck manufacturers in the world, with plants and offices spread across the US, Europe and beyond.

Current internship postings

These are the specific postings live as this guide was last updated, and they're labeled Fall 2026 rather than a fixed summer class. PACCAR's own internship page says summer 2027 requisitions typically start appearing around six to eight weeks ahead of the start date, so expect the summer board to fill in through October 2026. Check the live roles below rather than assuming this exact list holds.

What majors and locations PACCAR hires for

PACCAR posts internships across engineering, information technology, finance, marketing, human resources and supply chain management. Past summer postings have included mechanical design engineering, electrical validation engineering, program management, product marketing and talent acquisition, spread across its truck assembly plants, engine facilities and its Kirkland, Washington headquarters. Because PACCAR is a manufacturer first, engineering internships are the largest category, but the business-side roles are genuinely open to a wide range of majors.

What a PACCAR internship pays

Multiple PACCAR internship postings list $25 an hour for undergraduate students and $30 an hour for graduate students, a rate that has held consistently across engineering, HR and program management listings. PACCAR also advertises 401k matching up to 5% and medical, dental and vision coverage for interns, which is a more complete benefits package than most internships offer.

How to apply

PACCAR posts its internships directly through its own jobs site rather than a third-party board, and the postings are split out by division and plant location. Set up an alert on PACCAR's internship jobs page if you're targeting summer 2027, since the page runs empty for stretches and then fills quickly once the fall recruiting window opens. Apply to a specific plant and role rather than a generic internship listing, since PACCAR hires location by location rather than through one national pipeline.

Because PACCAR's plants sit outside the usual college recruiting circuit, hitting the right posting early matters more than it does at a company running one centralized application portal. If you're set on a specific brand, mention Kenworth, Peterbilt or DAF by name in your application rather than just "PACCAR," since plant-level recruiters read for that kind of specificity.

Why a manufacturing internship is worth considering

Engineering students default toward software and tech internships partly because those companies recruit loudly on campus. A manufacturing internship at a company like PACCAR gives you exposure to a physical product with real supply chain, quality and safety constraints, which is a different kind of engineering judgment than most software internships teach. It's also less competitive per posting, since fewer students think to apply.

For how PACCAR's timeline fits into the broader engineering internship market, see our General Dynamics internships guide for a similarly large industrial employer, or browse 2027 hardware engineering internships. For the full picture of when different industries open up, start with our summer 2027 internships guide.