Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Dublin plant hopes it will get Army's order for 152 Mack trucks
But Volvo said last summer it would phase out Mack production in the New River Valley.
The Roanoke Times | File 2006
Plant employees lower a truck cab onto a chassis at the Volvo plant in Dublin.
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Volvo Trucks North America said Tuesday it may or may not manufacture 152 trucks ordered by the military at its Dublin factory.
Spokesman John Walsh said that determination depends on production scheduling decisions not yet made.
The U.S. Army has ordered 152 Mack trucks for $28.5 million, a dose of good news at a time of stagnant truck sales.
But whether the order will benefit the New River Valley -- or a Middle Atlantic factory -- is unclear.
Last summer, Volvo announced it would phase out production of Mack trucks at its Dublin plant and make Mack vehicles in Macungie, Pa. At the time, the Mack line accounted for almost one in three vehicles assembled in Dublin. Daily output was 24 Macks and 56 Volvos, the company said.
The company did not announce any job cuts. Instead, it said job impacts would be determined by business conditions in the fourth quarter of 2008.
According to previous announcements, the plant has a work force of 1,400 and 973 workers classified as permanently laid off.
In its latest announcement, a news released dated Thursday, the company said it received a new Mack truck order from the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command.
Volvo pledged it would deliver 152 Mack Vision Elite model tractors (known domestically as the Mack Pinnacle Axle Back model) configured as 70-inch high-rise sleepers, as well as the same number of 35-ton lowboy trailers, within three years.
Asked about where the trucks will be made, Walsh wrote in an e-mail: "The production schedule, which will determine when and where the trucks will be built, is still being finalized."
