Volvo says it will be recalling about 270 people to its New River Valley Assembly Plant beginning the week of Sept. 6.
The recall will support a production ramp-up driven by increased orders, according to the company.
“In addition to some positive market trends, we believe the order increase is also being fueled by the very positive experience customers are having with our new EPA 2010-compliant trucks,” Volvo says
The company also says it “has also been working very hard to get people behind the wheel of demonstrator trucks to show them first-hand the quality, performance, and productivity of these vehicles. Beyond meeting the most stringent emissions requirements in the world, the new Volvos are also delivering up to 5 percent better fuel economy than their predecessors.”
In a special media announcement, Volvo noted that it publicized an order for 370 trucks from Knight Transportation back in February and an order for 600 from Penske Truck Leasing in May. “Beyond these orders, which we had permission from the customers to publicize, we’re continuing to win significant orders from new customers that until now have not had Volvo trucks in their fleets,” the company said in the media announcement.
A visit to the plant — which the company says is increasingly being used as a sales tool — has been a big part of bringing several customers to Volvo.
The NRV plant currently employs just more than 1,200 people.
This recall represents a staffing increase of about 23 percent.
Although Volvo doesn’t publicly discuss its build rates, the company says “a recall of this size is in line with a significant increase in production.”
