Peterbilt to Close Nashville Plant Permanently

Peterbilt Motors Co. announced Tuesday that it will permanently close its Madison, Tenn., truck plant, near Nashville.

The truck manufacturer will move work from the Madison plant, where 390 jobs will be lost, to its plant in Denton, Texas, the Associated Press reported.

“This was a difficult, but necessary decision,” Bill Jackson, general manager of Peterbilt, said in a statement.

Peterbilt had temporarily closed the Madison plant in April, citing the challenging economy. Prior to that, the plant had been idled since June 2008 when Peterbilt failed to reach a contract with the United Auto Workers.

Plant manager Larry Vessels told AP that the decision to permanently close the plant was unrelated to the 2008 labor dispute.

Peterbilt’s sales have dropped 70% in the last 18 months, AP reported.