Daimler set to layoff 1,200 workers due to sluggish truck orders

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Updated Jun 9, 2016
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Daimler Trucks North America has announced it will cut roughly 1,240 workers this month due to 2016’s slowdown in Class 8 truck orders and forecasts for orders to continue to remain sluggish. DTNA is the parent company of Freightliner, Western Star and Detroit.

The company says the cuts are temporary layoffs. “DTNA’s workforce adjustments are in response to a sustained reduction in orders and diminished build rates,” the company said. “These workforce adjustments are expected to be temporary and workers will have first rights to be recalled when production is able to sustain a higher build rate.”

The layoffs will come at manufacturing facilities in Mount Holly, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; Gastonia, N.C.; and Santiago, Mexico.

The company says 2016 net orders are expected to be 15 percent lower than net orders seen last year.

This is the second round of cuts announced this year by the company. In January, Daimler said it was cutting 1,000 workers at its Cleveland, N.C., manufacturing plant. That plant shouldn’t be affected by the new round of layoffs, Daimler says.

Daimler also isn’t the only company to announce layoffs this year due to slower truck sales. Volvo and Mack both announced they too had to cut plant workers. Volvo just announced last week it will be cutting workers at its Dublin, Va., truck manufacturing plant.