Freightliner to Cut 936 Jobs at North Carolina Plant

Jan. 5, 2016
Freightliner will temporarily cut 936 jobs from its Rowan County factory in anticipation of a softer North American truck market in 2016, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

Freightliner will temporarily cut 936 jobs from its Rowan County factory in anticipation of a softer North American truck market in 2016, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

Daimler Trucks North America, which owns Freightliner, said 936 employees of the factory’s 3,100-member workforce will be laid off, and, according to the report, it will reduce the plant’s production of heavy-duty Freightliner and Western Star trucks by a third. According to the report, the temporary layoffs stem from a “sustained reduction in orders and diminished build rate.”

The Charlotte Business Journal reports:

Assemblers will be the biggest hit among the job classifications at the DTNA plant in the Rowan County town of Cleveland. The list says 666 assembler jobs will be cut. Next up for job cuts is a classification called “utility team member,” which will see 107 jobs eliminated.

Combined with two other plants in the Charlotte area and a Fort Mill administrative center, DTNA employees more than 6,000 in the area.

Freightliner employment has fluctuated as the company faced constraints ranging from a shortage of truck drivers to a downturn in truck sales. Before this layoff, DTNA was approaching a record number for Charlotte-area employees.

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Rick Weber