Daimler closing Portland Freightliner truck plant

Daimler closing Portland Freightliner truck plant

06:03 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 14, 2008

By AP and kgw.com Staff


Freightliner closing PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Daimler AG said Tuesday that its North American truck division will drop its Sterling brand and end truck production in Portland and a Canada plant by mid-2010 as it moves to deal with depressed demand.


Daimler Trucks North America will discontinue the Sterling Trucks brand next March, but will make additions to its Freightliner and Western Star ranges to cover market segments that the brand has served, the Stuttgart-based parent company said in a statement.

It said DTNA will close its Portland, Oregon truck plant in June 2010, when current labor contracts there expire. The company said Western Star production will be assigned to a plant in Santiago, Mexico, while Freightliner-brand military vehicles will be produced at one of its facilities in the Carolinas by mid-2010.

When the company and unions signed contracts last year, the plant had about 1,000 workers, including 670 union machinists.

Harold Johnson is taking it slow on his way to work today. He doesn’t have the spring in his step. After all, he’s worked at Freightliner for 27 years and he just found out he won’t have a job in two years.

“It’s a rotten deal for everybody.” He said. “Our medical and retirement hinges on the plant staying here.”

The plant is 39 years old. The company's Portland office where about 2,000 people work is not affected.

“The changes we are making is in reaction to the changes we are seeing in the trucking industry. The credit crunch and higher diesel fuel prices have surprised everyone.” Roger Nielsen, Chief Operating Officer of Daimler Trucks North America said.


http://www.kgw.com/business/stories/kgw_101408_business_daimler_trucks.1110f5e17.html
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Great more jobs for Mexico!!!! :sarcasm: :sarcasm:
:grr: :grr: :hi: