Ford and Carhartt collaborate to build a truck honoring the working class
Key takeaways
- The Ford and Carhartt collaboration resulted in a truck built for durability, with design elements inspired by workwear and industrial Detroit aesthetics.
- The truck is a testament to the people who make Carhartt and Ford trucks part of their work and their lives.
- Both brands symbolize more than utility—they embody a lifestyle of grit, hard work, and family, passed down through generations.
I grew up in the South. In the “sticks,” as they say. The men in my hometown were farmers or worked at the marble quarry in the next town over. I don’t remember a time when Carhartt was unfamiliar to me, because even my classmates at elementary school wore T-shirts, hoodies, and jackets with that yellow “C” on the front. Even today, I’ll go back home and see Carhartt everywhere. At the grocery store, at fast-food joints, while workers are on their lunch break, on casual date night, on dressy date night, while working at hospitals, and yes, even at weddings, where they save their premium gear for special events.
Carhartt is so synonymous with the Southern working class that I thought it was a Southern thing.
Three years ago, I moved to the Detroit area. One thing Detroit loves is its murals. And a prominent mural facing Interstate 94—a highway I drive almost daily—is a beautiful homage to America’s favorite work apparel brand. “Born in Detroit in 1889,” the mural states. It was only after seeing that mural that it clicked for me that Carhartt is a brand born of Detroit innovation and tenacity.
But I’m not the only one who thought Carhartt was a brand born below the Mason-Dixon Line. About a year ago, I told one of my Southern friends that I live 20 minutes from Carhartt’s flagship store. “Nuh-uh!” he said in disbelief, thinking there was no way a brand he grew up seeing everywhere could come from the Midwest.
Another thing synonymous with Southern culture: pickup trucks.
Every household has at least one. When country boys turn 16, they expect a pickup. It doesn’t matter how big, how old, how well it runs, or how loud (although the louder the better), they must have a truck. Because brand-new pickups are too expensive, having a model that’s no newer than 15 years is basically a rite of passage for teenage boys.
As America’s best-selling pickup for decades, of course, a Ford truck is a dream for many of these young men. And often, it’s what their dads drive—mine included.
Today in rural Alabama, both quarry dads and farmers set their alarms for the dark hours of the morning, pull on their worn-in Carhartt, pour black coffee in their Yeti tumblers, and climb into their Ford pickups to start the day. On the weekends, those same folks gussy up, sling a Carhartt Duck Vest over their plaid flannel, and open the passenger door of their Ford pickups for their date. And, yes, she’s always impressed.
Ford and Carhartt aren’t just brands. They’re representatives of a lifestyle. A culture. My culture.
Born just one mile apart in Dearborn, Michigan, the brands took more than 100 years to collaborate.
Ford debuts the 2027 Super Duty Carhartt
Ford debuted its latest special edition pickup, the Ford Super Duty Carhartt, in early May. This edition isn’t just a Super Duty cab with Carhartt badging thrown on it. Teams from both brands worked together to ensure the collaboration was a testament to the people who make Carhartt and Ford trucks part of their lives.
“It’s a salute to the grit of the tradespeople we’ve been dedicated to for over a century,” John Emmert, the global director for Ford’s fleet business unit Ford Pro, said in a blog post on the brand’s media site.
The Carhartt edition of the Ford Super Duty is available on 2027 XLT Crew Cab single-rear-wheel pickups. Its standout features include 20-in. wheels with a design inspired by Detroit manhole covers, seat covers inspired by Carhartt’s hardworking duck canvas, and “subtle, not flashy” accents that act as “more of a whisper than a shout,” according to Ford marketing.
Designers from Ford and Carhartt ensured the pickup emphasized both functionality and durability, according to Ford.
Inside the work-inspired truck is a palette of dark, earth-toned colors that withstand the dirt and dust tracked in by work boots. Across the cab, “the material is commercial-grade, built for extreme durability, with abrasion resistance and soil and liquid repellency to protect against spills,” Ford stated.
Carhartt badging is stitched into the seats, along with Carhartt’s signature three-seamed design in both the front and back seats. All-weather floor mats also feature the Carhartt logo.
On the outside, Carhartt badging is placed in four areas: the bottom corner of the tailgate, right above the running boards, up against the cab in the spray-on bedliner, and on the left and right sides of the engine vents above the F-250 or F-350 badging.
It’s available in six exterior colors, including Neptune Blue, which is new for the 2027 model year.
For those who work—and live—in Ford and Carhartt
While the messaging of both brands touted “durability,” “utility,” “grit,” and “innovation,” in association with the Super Duty Carhartt, I think the most important piece of this collaboration is the people it was designed for.
“This collaboration believes that what you build should be as hard-working as the person behind it,” Austin Solimine, Ford Super Duty brand manager, told FleetOwner. “When someone opens that door after a long day's work, we want them to feel what [Ford and Carhartt] both stand for: America's workhorse, built without compromise, for the people who keep this country moving forward."
When I first heard about this collab a few months back, my mind traveled back to the folks I grew up with. I remember seeing Carhartt first on their dads, and now my Facebook feed is flooded with pictures of them wearing the gear themselves. I told a friend about this piece, and she then sent multiple photos of her family—herself, her husband, and her 18-month-old son—all wearing Carhartt. But these pictures weren’t of the family at work. They were a family enjoying life. Trick-or-treating, at a birthday party, enjoying a Saturday in the fall. And it’s the same with others who wear Carhartt, as well.
While my dad’s memories of his old Ford trucks are hitching a trailer loaded with landscape equipment to rental properties he owned and driving back and forth to work, my memories of that truck are driving to campgrounds for a family vacation, riding in the bed on dirt roads looking for blackberries, and arguing with my sisters over who sat in the front seat.
The best thing about both Ford and Carhartt is that they make our jobs better—keeping our hands and ears warm on a cold day in the field, or bringing us all those miles back home when the job is done—but they also clothe and transport our families and our lifestyle. Both are passed down from father to son, cousin to cousin. They represent the culture of America’s hardworking men and women who keep our world turning and then come home at the end of the day to what matters most. Yes, they work hard in their Carhartt and their Ford pickup, but they live life in their Carhartt and Ford, too.
Editor's note
Several people inspired this story. A few of them are listed below:
- Ben and Chelsea S., the family mentioned in the article.
- Emily B., who wears Carhartt on the job, outdoors, at work, and for construction and painting.
- Dustin A., who wears Carhartt casually and when working outside.
- Jessica and Cody L., who wear Carhartt along with their children because of its durability.
- Matt R., who wears Carhartt as a military K9 handler.
- Eddie J., who works in construction. "There's no construction without Carhartt," he said.
- Rich A., who appreciates Carhartt's inclusive sizing and reasonable prices.
- Jeff H., who wears Carhartt daily for work.
- Colbi B., who wears Carhartt regularly along with her husband, and gives Carhartt gear as Christmas gifts.
- Sydney G., who wears Carhartt every day at work.
- Chelsea W. and Aleeah H., who wear Carhartt to work as a nurse.
- Josh E., who wears Carhartt daily because they're the "only shirts that fit right."
- Taylor E., whose whole family wears Carhartt for work and play.
- Carly H., whose husband wears the brand daily.
- Briana L., whose husband wears Carhartt every day for work, and who herself wears his 15-year-old Carhartt jacket on cold days.
- Clinton C., a "Carhartt man" who said there isn't an occasion he wouldn't wear Carhartt.
- Will S., who grew up seeing his grandfather and dad wear Carhartt so much so that he and his cousins have also adopted the brand as their favorite.
- Zack T., a cattle farmer who doesn't leave the house without a piece of Carhartt clothing.
- Mandolin P., who dresses her toddler in Carhartt because it's the only thing that withstands her play days.
- Jacob M., who uses his Carhartt from nice casual wear all the way down to shop rags in a Carhartt "circle of life."
About the Author
Jade Brasher
Executive Editor Jade Brasher has covered vocational trucking and fleets since 2018. A graduate of The University of Alabama with a degree in journalism, Jade enjoys telling stories about the people behind the wheel and the intricate processes of the ever-evolving trucking industry.