Production at Peterbilt’s heavy truck plant in Madison, Tenn., remained at a standstill Thursday as the company barred workers from the facility for the third straight day.

Representatives from the United Auto Workers and the company are trying to reach a new labor agreement after the current one expired a week ago.
Plant manager Joe Scattergood told Truckinginfo.com that talks between the two sides are ongoing, but he declined to elaborate on the negotiations.
The plant had been producing 36 heavy trucks a day before the shutdown, said Scattergood, but he says he does not believe the current situation will hurt Peterbilt’s efforts to fulfill new truck orders.
According to published reports, the union expected to be on the job while contract talks continued. They offered to extend the current contract by a year, but that proposal was rejected by management a week ago. The plant was idle last Saturday through Monday due to the long Labor Day weekend.
This news comes as Peterbilt parent Paccar announced last week plans to lay off about two-thirds of the workforce at the plant by Nov. 1 due to an expected drop in heavy truck orders and sales as new lower emissions diesel engines are set to hit the market on Oct. 1.