1 Company in Columbus, Indiana

Cummins was founded in 1919 in Columbus, Indiana, by a local mechanic named Clessie Cummins and his financier backer — and it nearly failed several times before finding its formula: building diesel engines good enough to beat gasoline. In 1930, Clessie Cummins drove a Cummins-powered car from Indianapolis to New York on a single tank of fuel, setting a record and putting diesel on America's map. The company is now the world's largest independent maker of diesel engines: its heavy-duty engines power Class 8 trucks, buses, construction equipment, mining machines, and generators worldwide, with over a million engines built a year. Its powertrain business spans the full drivetrain — engines, transmissions, axles, and aftertreatment systems — and its Cummins-Meritor and Jacobs acquisitions added braking and drivetrain technology. Its power generation division supplies backup generators to data centers, hospitals, and factories. With about 75,000 employees and annual revenue near US$34 billion, Cummins is navigating the biggest transition in its history: diesel's decline. It is investing heavily in hydrogen engines, battery-electric powertrains, and fuel cells — and its newest engine platform is designed to run on multiple fuels including natural gas and hydrogen. For truck fleets and equipment makers, Cummins remains the engine brand with the deepest service network — the power behind the world's freight, one piston at a time.