Paccar to Trim Production at Several Plants in April

Paccar Inc. said it will shut down truck production for several days in April at two Kenworth Truck Co. plants and two Peterbilt Motor Co. factories, cut its build rate for heavy trucks and lay off an unspecified number of workers.

Paccar announced an earlier round of layoffs in January, without divulging numbers. Both Kenworth and Peterbilt are subsidiaries of Paccar.

The Kenworth plants are in Chillicothe, Ohio, and Renton, Wash, while the Peterbilt plants are in Nashville, Tenn., and in Denton, Texas, Paccar treasurer Robin Easton told Transport Topics.

“Each plant will probably shut down for two extra days in April, as well as for some long weekends,” Reston said. “Because of the expected drop in orders for heavy trucks after the large pre-buy last year, we’re also adjusting the build-rate of new heavy trucks.”

Reston said that Paccar did not divulge exact changes in its build rate or layoff figures for competitive reasons.

Paccar said in January that it will build a plant in the Southeastern United States.