Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant is being reinforced with a third production crew consisting of 900 hourly workers. The reason? To keep up with the surging demand for the ever-popular F-Series pickup trucks. They will add 200,000 units to the annual production run.

The F-Series, and the F1-50 in particular, have always been America’s number one pickup truck. Sure, Toyota may make more durable machines, and the products of GM may look cooler, but there is something quintessentially American, and decidedly Texan, about the F-Series that makes it so popular in the States. It also offers a good combination of power, capability, safety and fuel economy.

What’s more amazing is the surging demand for these cars in 2013. F-Series sales increased 22 percent from January to July 2013, compared to the same period last year. The hard-working truck is being employed by U.S. industries in a large scale. The F-Series has 68 percent market share in hazardous materials work, 67 percent share in the oil pipeline industry, and 62 percent share in road and highway maintenance.

Besides adding the new jobs, Ford is also spending $1.1 billion at Kansas City Assembly Plant to retool and expand the facility, making it ready for the Transit production.