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Freightliner to add 1,100 manufacturing jobs

Jack Roberts

January 15, 2012 |

Daimler Trucks North America on Jan. 12, announced the addition of a second shift and plans to ramp up production at its Freightliner Truck manufacturing plant in Cleveland, N.C., creating more than 1,100 new jobs by the end of 2012. The additional workers represent a 72 percent increase in personnel at the plant and will include about 1,072 shop employees and an additional 29 engineering and support positions to facilitate increased production.

A majority of the positions will be filled with recalled workers who were laid off in 2009.The ramp-up nearly will double the daily production rates at the Cleveland plant by October. DTNA saod the increase in production capacity and hiring comes in response to demand growth which has created backorders as long as six months for the Freightliner Cascadia model.

The Cleveland plant currently employs about 1,400 shop employees and 72 engineers, managers and support staff. The largest Freightliner Trucks manufacturing plant in the United States, this facility exclusively produces Class 8 on-highway truck models, including the Cascadia, Columbia and Argosy product lines.

Freightliner trucks also are sold internationally, with nearly 20 percent of the trucks built at the Cleveland plant sold through Daimler subsidiaries in the export markets of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

In conjunction with the ramp-up at the Cleveland plant, DTNA also will hire 100 employees at its nearby Components and Logistics Plant in Gastonia, N.C. The 90 new hourly employees in the factory and 10 salaried and hourly office employees primarily will staff a second and third shift.

“We are incredibly pleased to be able to make this announcement today and to welcome back so many of our valued employees,” said Roger Nielsen, COO of Daimler Trucks North America. “The growing demand for Freightliner products is testimony to our brand focus on providing efficient business solutions for our customers, and access to Daimler resources and technology. We’re delivering trucks with industry-leading fuel-efficiency technology and the lowest total cost of ownership.”

“Today’s news that Daimler will be adding 1,200 jobs in our state is tremendous news for North Carolina,” said Governor Bev Perdue. “Globally competitive companies like Daimler realize the value of North Carolina’s highly skilled workforce and our customized training programs. We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with Daimler.”