Due to weakened orders for heavy duty trucks in North America, Volvo has announced it will lay off 700 workers beginning in January of next year.
DTNA has announced a workforce reduction across its North American production facilities, laying off about 1,240 workers in response to sustained reductions in truck orders.
PHILADELPHIA - Arrow Trucking Co. is being sued by a Philadelphia attorney on behalf of the 1,400 former employees laid off right before Christmas, many of whom were truck drivers left stranded at truck stops.
HOUSTON - Arrow Trucking employees were reportedly unaware they had been laid off until their gas cards no longer worked or someone showed up to tow away their trucks.
I am dismayed at the number of fleet managers who have lost their jobs due to corporate cutbacks. Similarly, I am amazed at the short-sightedness of today's senior management making these decisions without regard to the implications of lesser-qualified individuals managing one of their largest asset classes. I predict that companies that downgrade the expertise of their in-house management will be on the wrong side of history and will be the poster children of what not to do in a recession.
Since the recession's start at the beginning of 2008, 4.4 million jobs have been lost due to corporate downsizings and layoffs. Many terminated employees were assigned company vehicles. In today's politically correct HR environment, the term "reverse expansion" is being used to describe the retrieval and reassignment of company-provided vehicles from terminated employees. A fleet manager suddenly thrust into a reverse expansion will find it very easy to make mistakes.
Massive layoffs are occurring throughout the economy, and many companies find that terminated employees are not returning their assigned company vehicles. Sometimes, the company-provided vehicle is held "hostage" until the employer meets a grievance by the terminated employee. Unfortunately, many HR and legal departments take the "easy way" and are too quick to involve the police to expedite resolution.
PORTLAND, OR – Truck manufacturer Freightliner has announced plans to lay off more than 2,100 employees at three plants in North Carolina because of sagging sales.
I can’t recall a year as tumultuous as 2008. The year started with the Jan. 1 termination of the $1.8 billion merger between GE and PHH and ended with the near bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler. In between, we witnessed record fuel prices, then a spectacular freefall in fuel prices, a dismal used-vehicle market, unprecedented credit gridlock, the inability of some fleets to order new-vehicles, and fleet delivery disruptions due to a UAW strike and an epic Midwest flood that submerged rail lines.
On the eve of the 2009 calendar-year, fleet managers are bracing for a new year filled with uncertainty about the economy and the long-term viability of the Detroit Three. There is a long litany of uncertainties voiced by commercial fleet managers about what may unfold. Many fleet managers view the changes currently roiling the industry as "tectonic shifts" in how commercial fleets will be run in the future.
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