Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. announced that its dry van manufacturing plant’s assembly line is in full production after a tornado struck last April in Glade Spring, Va. After the tornado struck, Utility’s Glade Spring plant employees were transferred to Utility’s nearby refrigerated trailer plant in Marion, Va., and some helped the community with cleanup and recovery. A few Glade Spring plant workers elected to remain at the Marion facility because of their closer commute.
“Our work force and managers have done a great job in working through the damage and the dislocation that was caused by the tornado,” says Jack Washburn, Utility’s Glade Spring plant manager. “The resilience and fortitude of our workers contributed to a successful full recovery, and we are now back on the assembly line in full production with even more trailer orders than before the tornado damaged our facility.”
Utility has rehired all employees and currently is hiring additional staff to meet the demands of higher production levels. The Glade Spring plant, one of Utility’s five U.S. trailer manufacturing facilities, manufactures Utility’s 4000D and the 4000D-X Composite dry vans trailers.
“Jack Washburn and all of our Glade Spring employees have done an astounding job with recovery efforts to get us back to pre-tornado production levels and prepare us for meeting the demands of even more trailer orders that we’ve recently received,” says Craig Bennett, Utility’s senior vice president of sales and marketing.
In addition to the initial purchase of 1,044 4000D-X Composite dry vans trailers, Ryder Systems Inc. has increased its order by 220 additional trailers that will be manufactured in the Glade Spring plant. The plant has been in full production as of mid-June.
