By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Up to 150 employees could face layoffs at the Auto Truck Transport terminal in Cleveland ó a direct result of the job reductions and production cutbacks at Freightliner.
The Auto Truck Transport layoffs will take effect March 16. The terminal at 320 Bear Poplar Road near Freightliner employs mostly drivers and shop workers.
In addition, the States Industries plant of Mocksville will be closing effective March 25.
The Mocksville plant employs 73 people. The company makes hardwood veneer paneling and plywood and is headquartered in Eugene, Ore.
The N.C. Department of Commerce received a WARN notice last Thursday from Auto Truck Transport, which specializes in transporting trucks across the country from plants such as Freightliner, International, Ford, Sterling and Mack.
WARN stands for Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification. A WARN 60-day notice essentially lets the state know of pending mass layoffs or plant closings, affords time to set up assistance and gives employees transition time to seek other jobs or training.
The layoffs at Auto Truck Transport follow news earlier this month that Freightliner would lay off 2,137 workers at three N.C. plants, including 1,290 employees at the heavy-duty truck manufacturing plant in Cleveland.
Auto Truck Transport has roughly 275 employees, according to an employers directory of the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce. It is among Rowan County’s 20 largest employers.
The Post could not reach anyone with the company Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, plans are to cut truck production at the Cleveland Freightliner plant by 50 percent this spring.
It’s estimated that after the latest layoffs at Freightliner take place March 13, about 700 employees will be left at the Freightliner plant, which once had more than 3,000 employees and was Rowan County’s top employer.
According to a notice sent to Freightliner employees Monday, those hired July 17, 1995, or later will be laid off March 13.
The state has received 20 WARN notices this month, representing 14 announced layoffs and six plant closures. Those announcements affect 3,361 N.C. workers.
Since July 1, 2008, the N.C. Department of Commerce has received notices representing 41 different layoffs and 52 plant closings. In all, 14,431 workers have been affected.
Not all layoffs have to be reported, so the number of lost jobs in North Carolina is much higher.
With a plant closing, an employer must give notice if the shutdown will result in the loss of 50 or more employees during a 30-day period.
In a mass layoff, the employer must give notice if the loss of employment during any 30-day period is 500 or more employees or, for companies employing between 50 and 499 people, if the layoffs represent at least 33 percent of the company’s workforce.