Posted on 06/04/2004 5:37:52 AM PDT by Constitution Day
Freightliner adds 600 workers to meet growing demand for trucks
The Associated Press
June 4, 2004 1:45 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Freightliner LLC will add nearly 600 workers to its assembly plant in Rowan County to meet demand for 18-wheelers, the company said Thursday.
The new workers will push employment at the Cleveland plant to 3,600, the most since the late 1990s.
Jeffrey Fisher, a spokesman at Freightliner's headquarters in Portland, Ore., said the economic recovery means more freight is being moved.
"That's putting great demand on freight forwarders and trucking organizations," he said. "They need the trucks and need the drivers right now."
Fisher said most of the workers have been hired and will begin work in July.
Freightliner runs four plants in North Carolina that soon will employ 7,125 making trucks, buses and related parts. Freightliner, a unit of German-based DaimlerChrysler, said Thursday it had added 100 employees to its truck-parts plant in Gastonia. The company has also added 150 at its Thomas Built Buses plant in High Point since April.
The jobs for Cleveland come as Rowan County recovers from the collapse of Pillowtex Corp. The Kannapolis-based textile giant closed last July, laying off 560 in China Grove and 90 in Rockwell. Rowan's unemployment rate shot to 12.5 percent from 6.7 percent in the two months after the layoffs, but had fallen to 8.2 percent by April. The state rate is 5.3 percent.
Just four years ago, Freightliner was laying off thousands of workers. The company's shipments of heavy-duty trucks fell to 45,972 last year from 83,791 in 1991, according to Ward's Automotive, a publication that tracks the automotive industry.
Demand for new trucks, which retail for $80,000 to $100,000, is now so strong that Freightliner can't fill new orders until after December, Fisher said.
ping
Thanks.
Willie Green is not searching for a counter-story to try and put this good news in a bad light.
Just give him time.
I wonder if some sales are being driven by new diesel regulations (adding $$$ to the cost, naturally) coming in a year or so.
The pre-buy of new trucks to circumvent the effects of the 2007 emission standards will put a huge strain on the truck manufacturers ability to keep up with the demand. That coupled with the fact that a lot of us in this business will be keeping our older trucks a little longer, will certainly increase the demand for skilled technicians. The down side is that all this will equate to higher transportation costs passed along to consumers. It's going to be very interesting in the trucking world here in the next few years. 2010 is another milestone in truck emissions and that could create a whole new monster.
From what I have heard there will be two grades of diesel, one with higher sulfur content, one with lower.
Both will be available for some time, I understand.
CD
Textile Industry outsourcing bump
A: Freightliner adds 600 workers to meet growing demand for trucks.
Q: What headline will you never see posted by Willie Green?
LOL! So true.
The high and/or rising cost of fuel will help remedy the imbalance, sooner or later.
Some of that is happening but companies aren't going to buy trucks if they don't have work. The collapse of truck sales corresponded with the downturn in the economy. Trucking is up which underscores the strength of the recent economic growth we've seen.
The Freightliner news is excellent esecially coming in North Carolina after the textile layoffs. I suspect those are better paying jobs compared to Pillowtex. Might be time for Bush to visit North Carolina and talk about the economy.
Reminds me of the glut of machine tools that was evidently produced prior to the initial implementation of OSHA and EPA regulations. Nice equipment, but in many instances not the "right" model for optimal operating efficiency had better judgement been exerted in the initial selection. The huge installed base of equipment from that era also made it more difficult to justify newer technology that was truly more productive: CNC controls, quick-tooling-changeover, various diagnostic features that facilitated statistical process control and/or machine and tooling damage, etc. etc. etc. IMHO, it is much more sensible to gradually and systematicly displace older technology with new over a longer time frame, continuously improving productivity as the situations warrant it. The problem with a "bulge" is that the beancounters are reluctant to replace anything that is still relatively "new", then several years later, they freak out when it all becomes aged, antiquated and craps out all at the same time.
You know, while increased demand for trucks may seem "positive" on the surface, it is actually a negative consequence of outsourcing: extended supply lines and increased transportation service costs that add nothing to the value of products delivered. As a consuming nation, we're wasting a lot of effort hauling stuff around rather than actually working to produce something.
I heard that this morning, when are the rails going to be up and running efficiently, that is economic transportaion of goods.
We also need to address quality mass transit in this country, and if gas prices go down, just remember they will go back up again.
Otherwise, for example, the corner convenience store couldn't charge more than the supermarket for the same gallon of milk, and the dairy delivery man couldn't charge even more than the convenience store. Although the value may not be visible or tangible, it's there.
If outsourcing delivers more value to the consumer, does it really matter how much of the product's value came from producing it vs. transporting it? I'd think not. Otherwise, we'd all have dairy cows in our neighborhoods, if not our own backyards.
No, transportation is merely a service that adds cost.
Granted, it must be worthwhile to pay for that service, but the value of the product itself has not changed.
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