Freightliner LLC announced Thursday it is laying off 130 plant workers, citing the company’s plan to build fewer Western Star Trucks next year and more Freightliner commercial vehicles.

Roger Nielsen, Freightliner’s chief operating officer, told The Oregonian newspaper the reduction, which became effective immediately, “just reflects where the market is going right now."
He said Freightliner-brand Class 8 trucks – including the Coronado, Columbia and Century Class vehicles favored by fleet operators and owner-operators – require less manpower to build than Western Star rigs, which are bulkier and often used in the construction and logging industry.
Nielsen said he expects no change in overall plant production, which currently churns out about 74 trucks a day over two shifts. The reduction represents about 7 percent of the company's blue-collar work force in Portland, bringing total employment at the truck plant to 1,700. Freightliner employs another 1,800 workers at its corporate headquarters.
While terming the holiday timing of the layoff as unfortunate, Nielson said Freightliner would pay workers through Jan. 2.