Without powertrains, Volvo lays off workers at New River Valley plant

[kscarbel2]

Matt Cole, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ)  /  October 21, 2019

Just over a week into a strike by United Auto Workers members at five Mack Trucks facilities, Volvo Trucks says it is halting U.S. truck production at its New River Valley plant in Virginia as a result.

John Mies, senior vice president of corporate communications for Volvo Trucks, says the company advised employees at the Dublin, Virginia, plant that it would stop production until the strike is resolved. As a result, approximately 3,000 employees are temporarily laid off, effective Monday, Oct. 21.

“We don’t know how long the layoff will last, but we’re taking steps to keep our employees updated as we move forward,” Mies says.

Even though the strike only affects Mack workers, Volvo powertrains are built at Mack’s Hagerstown, Maryland, facility.

The strike began Oct. 12 when more than 3,500 UAW-represented workers employed at Mack Trucks plants in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Middletown, Pennsylvania; Hagerstown, Maryland; Baltimore, Maryland; and Jacksonville, Florida. UAW says the workers are striking for a number of issues, including pay, benefits, work schedules and more.

Both Mies and UAW say negotiations between the parties restarted Oct. 21.

[james j neiweem]

Volvo is not going to put up with any union BS. They will use options at hand.

[Mack Technician]

Question is will anyone even miss the key lime portion of our pie this Thanksgiving?  Nothing wrong with Cherry or Pumpkin. Heck, even blackberry can hit the spot if Fat Cousin Jimbo gets there first.  

Notice the Mack portion is a faded, Anemic, light green version of the Volvo. Kind of symbolic. It’s lost all its flavor and richness from being bled dry by its parent company.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Mack Technician

[41chevy]

I'm sure the laid off workers, their families and the local business will miss the key lime part but not the corporate willy wooden shoes.

Edited October 23, 2019 by 41chevy

[j hancock]

I know a couple folks that would like to have purchased a Mack Truck powered with a Cummins.  They tired quickly of the "cup motors" and went away.

Volvo thinks they know what to do but their portion of the pie is going to get a lot smaller.

[Maxidyne]

Was looking through the engine sections of Fleet Owners annual specs issue, noticed that all the Detroits now have peak torque at 975 RPM with Cummins and everybody else but Volvo following that low RPM trend, with the exception of Volvo's turbo compounded engines. This shows that Volvo can't compete with their 40k engines a year volume in this market, and they may as well outsource engines to Cummins.

[Red Horse]

On 10/22/2019 at 10:40 PM, kscarbel2 said:

Matt Cole, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ)  /  October 21, 2019

Just over a week into a strike by United Auto Workers members at five Mack Trucks facilities, Volvo Trucks says it is halting U.S. truck production at its New River Valley plant in Virginia as a result.

John Mies, senior vice president of corporate communications for Volvo Trucks, says the company advised employees at the Dublin, Virginia, plant that it would stop production until the strike is resolved. As a result, approximately 3,000 employees are temporarily laid off, effective Monday, Oct. 21.

“We don’t know how long the layoff will last, but we’re taking steps to keep our employees updated as we move forward,” Mies says.

Even though the strike only affects Mack workers, Volvo powertrains are built at Mack’s Hagerstown, Maryland, facility.

The strike began Oct. 12 when more than 3,500 UAW-represented workers employed at Mack Trucks plants in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Middletown, Pennsylvania; Hagerstown, Maryland; Baltimore, Maryland; and Jacksonville, Florida. UAW says the workers are striking for a number of issues, including pay, benefits, work schedules and more.

Both Mies and UAW say negotiations between the parties restarted Oct. 21.

You forgot "dignity" as one of the stated reasons for going out.  A friend sent me an article from Allentown paper on the strike.  Headline.byline....""CEO wants production flexibility."...."Company says it must be able to compete with manufacturers that build in Mexico".

Seems like when in fact you are the only class 8 builder who does not have production in Mexico you are stepping up to the plate with one strike on you before you swing the bat-no pun intended.

Ford  brought class 6/7 production back to Ohio from Mexico as it was a bargaining chip that helped get them a UAW contract and that production was a drop in the bucket for Ford. No such situation here.

I've said it before-the Brockway strike was the final straw for Mack.  Hope we don't see a repeat. Not likely as the Mack sales aren't that much less than Volvos and I'm guessing Brockway production was 20% of the total.  But it is something to think about.

[kscarbel2]

Volvo Announces Christmas Layoffs at New River Valley Assembly Plant

Jack Roberts, Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  December 17, 2019

Volvo Trucks North American is winding down its truck manufacturing operations at its New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia, with company officials citing declining heavy truck orders for a pending layoff of 700 assembly line workers.

The layoffs will take place in January of next year.

The news comes on the heels of a recent strike at the Mack Trucks assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, early this Fall, which forced parent company Volvo to idle the New River Valley production line during the 12-day negotiating period.

“We regret having to take this action, but we operate in a cyclical market, and after two years of extremely high volumes, we have to adapt to reduced market demand,” a Volvo spokesperson said.

In June, Volvo executives said they expected the company would have to lay people off around year-end due to decreased demand in North America for heavy-duty trucks.

“We expect the total North American truck market to be down nearly 30%, or about 100,000 trucks, in 2020,” the Volvo spokesperson added. “And we expect one of Volvo’s core segments, the long-haul truck market, to represent a significant part of that reduction. The reduction in production will unfortunately mean the layoff of about 700 people, beginning the week of January 20, 2020.”

The [unnamed] spokesperson said that outplacement support meetings led by the company and UAW representatives will be provided for all affected employees.  Volvo also provide laid-off employees with information about the support available through the Virginia Employment Commission and the regional Rapid Response team.

[Bullheaded]

On 10/24/2019 at 8:28 AM, j hancock said:

I know a couple folks that would like to have purchased a Mack Truck powered with a Cummins.  They tired quickly of the "cup motors" and went away.

Volvo thinks they know what to do but their portion of the pie is going to get a lot smaller.

I was gunna say call Cummins. They will sell you engines heavy haulers want, LOL. (well some anyway...I'm a Detroit guy, LOL)