Wabash National Corp. is reportedly recalling 480 employees laid off six weeks ago from its Lafayette, Ind., plant and hiring another 100.

According to published reports, company officials say recent orders have but the company on target to reach its goal of building 38,000 trailers this year - 15 percent more than the 33,000 built last year.
Art Brown, vice president and chief operating officer, told a local newspaper that customers are placing orders sooner than the company had anticipated. The company received orders exceeding $100 million from some of its core customers earlier this month.
When announcing the large orders earlier this month, Richard E. Dessimoz, Wabash acting CEO, said, "We are beginning to receive indications from our core customer group that their 2002 requirements will exceed their orders placed in 2001. While we do not anticipate industry fundamentals to dramatically improve in the short term, a number of our key customers have performed relatively well during these difficult economic times, which appears to be driving their demand for new trailers."
The new hirings and callbacks will put Wabash's employment just 300 shy of the more than 3,000 it had before the first layoff in the company's history, which came a year ago.
Wabash National Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets standard and customized truck trailers under the Wabash and Fruehauf brands as well as composite trailers under the RoadRailer name.