Volvo Recalling 270 Workers to Virginia Truck Plant
Volvo Trucks North America said it will recall 270 former employees to its New River Valley truck production plant in Virginia next month due to increased truck orders.
“In addition to recent freight trends, we believe the order increase is also being fueled by the very positive experience customers are having with our new 2010-compliant trucks,” Volvo said.
The workers’ return to the Dublin, Va., plant after Labor Day will mean about a 23% increase to its current workforce of just over 1,200 people, the company said, adding that it does not “publicly discuss our build rates, but obviously a recall of this size is in line with a significant increase in production.”
The new trucks are delivering up to 5% better fuel economy than their predecessors, Volvo said in an e-mailed statement.
Volvo announced an order for 370 trucks from Knight Transportation in February and one for 600 from Penske Truck Leasing in May. Beyond those, it said it is “continuing to win significant orders from new customers that until now have not had Volvo trucks in their fleets.”
Volvo and other heavy-duty truck makers, including Daimler Trucks North America, had cut production and employment in their U.S. heavy-duty truck plants in the past two years due to declining sales.
