Kenworth to Cut Wash. Production, Lay Off 400

Kenworth Truck Co. will scale back most of its truck production at its Renton, Wash., plant and lay off more than 400 workers as sales slump, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Saturday.

The plant will continue to make two large off-road heavy-duty trucks used in such industries as mining and oil fields, but production of over-the-road Class 8 trucks will be shifted to Kenworth’s plant in Chillicothe, Ohio, the paper reported.

A machinists’ union official told the paper that company officials said 329 union and 92 management employees will be laid off as a result of the move, the Post-Intelligencer said.

Kenworth, in a filing Friday with the Washington Department of Employment Security, put the number of layoffs at 430, and both the layoffs and production cuts will be effective Jan. 19, the paper reported.

Kenworth is a division of Paccar Inc., which is also the parent company of Peterbilt Motors Co.