Mack to lay off over 300 workers, as truck orders reach decade low
Mack trucks to lay off 305 employees at its Lehigh Valley Operations plant in Lower Macungie Township, PA.
The plant employs a total of 2,400 people. Mack spokesman Christopher Heffner said the industry is “continuing to manage through a period of excess inventory and reduced demand” which necessitated the layoffs.”
“We regret having to take this action, but we operate in a cyclical market, and after two years of extremely high volumes, we have to adapt to reduced market demand,” Heffner said according to reporting from the Associated Press. “Our current forecast for 2020 is a nearly 30% drop in the market, and this reduction is a step in our continued adaptation to market conditions.”
This southeastern plant was one of the three plants that participated in the October, 2019 United Auto Workers strike who were protesting wage increases and job security.
Company and union representatives will provide outplacement support meetings for the affected employees. The company will provide employees with information about the support available through the Private Industry Council and Career Link, Heffner said.
According to reporting from FreightWaves.com, orders of new Class 8 trucks fell to their lowest level in a decade in 2019 citing a softening economy and a booking frenzy in 2018.
The article also cited several other truck manufacturing layoffs in 2019 and this month including Daimler Trucks North America who laid off 900 workers in October. Volvo Trucks North America who plans on cutting 700 jobs this month and Paccar Inc. who trimmed 100 jobs at its Kenworth division. Navistar International Corp. is also laying off 1,300 workers this month.
