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Daimler Truck will shut Portland factory, lay off 375 and move production to the East Coast Daimler Truck will shut Portland factory, lay off 375 and move production to the East Coast
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Portland has been making Freightliner trucks since the company’s founding here in 1942.
That ends in October.
Daimler Truck North America told employees Wednesday it’s shutting down its Freightliner and Western Star production lines on Swan Island this fall and moving that work to factories in North and South Carolina.
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The company will lay off 375, some of whom have been making trucks in Portland for decades. Daimler Truck said it will retain its North American headquarters on Swan Island, including a new $40 million engineering facility the company opened there just this month.
The Swan Island factory makes trucks bearing the Freightliner and Western Star brands. In 2019, Daimler began converting the Portland Freightliner plant to make electric trucks but sales have been anemic. The company said last week they represent just 0.5% of its market.
Daimler Truck said it’s consolidating manufacturing at larger factories on the East Coast and that the decision wasn’t a reflection on the labor supply or business conditions in Portland.
“It’s a network decision. Portland’s production profile is different from our larger plants,” said Daimler Truck spokesperson Robert Sterling. “It’s not an indictment on Portland and what Portland’s offering.”
Regardless, Wednesday’s news is a blow to the 375 workers who stand to lose their jobs and to Portland’s fragile economy. The city has struggled to attract business in the years since the pandemic and Oregon’s manufacturing workforce has been in steep decline since 2022. Statewide, factory jobs are at their lowest point in 15 years.
Oregon factory jobs
Oregon factory jobs
Manufacturing employment is at its lowest point statewide since 2011.
Seasonally adjusted
Source: Oregon Employment DepartmentGet the data
Gov. Tina Kotek’s office did not respond to a message seeking comment on the Swan Island closure.
Daimler Truck said it will pay severance to all laid-off workers and that some Portland employees may be offered jobs at its larger factories on the East Coast.
At least four different unions represent Daimler’s Portland employees, including the Teamsters and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Neither of those unions’ local representatives had immediate comment Wednesday about the pending layoffs.
1929: Leland James launches Consolidated Freight Lines in Portland. By the late 1930s, he wants to build trucks with lighter-weight aluminum.
1940: James helps establish Freightways Manufacturing Co. in Salt Lake City.
1942: Name changes to Freightliner Corp.
1947: Opens manufacturing plant in Portland on Northwest Quimby Street.
1950: Hyster Co. becomes first private carrier to order a Freightliner. Workers produce 116 trucks that year.
1960: Production surges to 931 trucks.
1970: 6,206 trucks are built. Company's 100,000th truck is delivered in 1974 with commemorative detailing.
1981: Daimler-Benz AG purchases Freightliner. In the next decade, vehicle sales more than double.
1992: Freightliner reaches the top of the North American heavy-duty truck market. A decade of acquisitions ensues as the company diversifies. Mexico plant opens.
1998: Daimler-Benz merges with Chrysler Corp.
2000: Freightliner purchases and starts producing Western Star Trucks, an upmarket specialty rig.
2001: Union workers accept a pay cut because of a downturn and poor business decisions with a promise that their sacrifice "will not be forgotten." Parts plant closes with some work going to North Carolina.
2009: Daimler reverses plans to close its Swan Island truck plant — announced in 2008 — sparing 650 jobs.
2016: Daimler opens $150 million North American trucking headquarters on Swan Island in North Portland.
2019: Daimler says it will begin converting Portland Freightliner factory to make electric trucks.
2026: Daimler Truck opens $40 million engineering facility on Swan Island and announces plans to move all truck manufacturing from Portland to sites in North and South Carolina.
Daimler Truck employs about 3,000 people in Oregon. In addition to the corporate and engineering offices on Swan Island, the company has a test track in Madras and drives trucks between Portland and Pendleton to evaluate their capabilities.
But Daimler said its factories and supply chains are increasingly concentrated on the East Coast, making the Carolinas a more logical home for its manufacturing.
“It’s just best in the long-term path for business,” Sterling said.
The decision to shift production out of Portland doesn’t say anything about Daimler Truck’s local future, according to Sterling.
“I can’t reinforce that enough. The commitment to Portland remains strong. We will continue to be here in Portland,” he said. “It’s certainly not the start of any progression.”
Mike Rogoway reports on the intersection of community and technology, from the science of semiconductors to the impact of billion-dollar data centers in Oregon’s small towns.
Mike has worked in communities... more
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