Daimler Trucks North America on Monday, Feb. 14, announced it plans to add 628 new positions in its manufacturing plants in Mt. Holly and Gastonia, N.C., to accommodate rising customer demand and expanding production schedules. The company also will add about 1,300 total jobs at all of its truck and parts manufacturing facilities during the first half of the year.
The Mt. Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant plans to fill 447 new manufacturing and 27 plant-based administrative positions beginning in mid-March. The Mt. Holly plant manufactures Freightliner M2 Business Class medium-duty, hybrid and natural gas trucks.
The Gastonia Parts Manufacturing Plant plans to add 149 manufacturing jobs and five related administrative positions from February to May to support increased network build rates. The 628 new positions will sharply increase daily production at both facilities.
Planned 2011 hiring also will include about 600 positions in DTNA’s Mexico manufacturing plants in Santiago and Saltillo to help meet production and customer delivery schedules for the company’s medium- and heavy-duty product lines.
“We have received a clear vote of confidence from a broad range of customers,” says Martin Daum, DTNA president and chief executive officer. “Our new hiring in Mt. Holly and Gastonia is a direct reflection of incoming orders and the resulting production schedule. We remain cautiously optimistic regarding economic and industry recovery, but this is a significant and welcome step forward.”
Since January 2010, the company has reinstated more than 1,600 manufacturing and related administrative positions throughout its manufacturing network to meet increased customer demand. New collective bargaining agreements were reached in 2010 with all of the company’s U.S. plants.
