MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. (AP) -- Freightliner LLC, blaming higher fuel prices, said it will lay off 260 people from its medium-duty truck plant in Mount Holly.þþThe job cuts, announced this week, are scheduled to take effect by Sept. 26, company spokesman Jeff Fisher said. The company, which is based in Portland, Ore., will produce 100 trucks a day, down from 120, he said.þþ''We're watching the rest of the industry and we're anticipating this might be an industrywide phenomenon,'' Fisher told The Gaston Gazette for a story in Wednesday's editions.þþAbout 1,280 employees represented by the United Autoworkers would still work at the plant, the same number as a year ago.þþGrowth in the medium-duty truck market has slowed because of ''rising diesel prices and economic uncertainties,'' Freightliner CEO Roger Nielsen said in a news release.þþBob Riggins, president of Local 5285 of the United Auto Workers Union, said the union was disappointed but not surprised by the job cutting because of high fuel prices. þþ
Source: NY Times
