In The News
Daimler to lay off some 1,250 employees at N.C. plants
PORTLAND, Ore. — Daimler Trucks North America has,, Monday and Tuesday notified about 700 employees at its Mount Holly, North Carolina, Truck Manufacturing Plant and some 550 employees at its Cleveland, North Carolina, Manufacturing Plant that there will be a reduction in workforce.
The just announced layoffs are in addition to 936 employees who were laid off at the Cleveland plant January 4.
The announcement was made pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 that requires big employers to provide a two-month notice ahead of mass layoffs.
In both cases, the layoffs were technically effective 60 days after they were announced, but in both cases, employees worked and will work only through Friday following the announcement.
Employee affected by both layoffs are receiving payment in lieu of the notice period at each employee's regular rate of pay, and employees are free to seek and accept other employment during the notice period without jeopardizing their entitlement to the WARN period payment or benefits, Daimler said in a notice.
The Mount Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant manufactures medium-duty Freightliner trucks. The Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant manufactures heavy-duty Freightliner and Western Star trucks.
Daimler said that as of February 22, the workforce at the Mount Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant will be reduced from approximately 2,150 to approximately 1,450 employees, with plant operations scaled back to two full shifts per day.
The workforce at the Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant will be reduced from approximately 2,150 to approximately 1,600, with plant production scheduled at one full shift per day.
Daimler said about 3,100 were employed there at the end of 2015.
"These workforce adjustments are in response to a sustained reduction in orders and a diminished build rate, and are expected to be temporary, based on future market developments," Daimler said. "2015 was an extraordinarily strong market for trucks in NAFTA. DTNA anticipates the North American truck market Class 6 to 8 to be down around minus 10 percent in 2016. This is still expected to be above the 2014 Class 6 to 8 market."
The company has no further comment pertaining to the announcement.
The news of the layoffs came simultaneously with a news release from ACT Research saying the supply of Class 8 trucks continues to rise faster than demand for trucks.
"The capacity index [supply] rose faster than the freight index [demand] for the fifth consecutive month and the 11th time in the past 13 months in January," said Steve Tam, ACT's vice president, commercial vehicle sector. "While this measure had been getting better (less unfavorable) in previous months, a clear fall-off in freight caused the index to deteriorate further in January."
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