DTNA to shutter Portland manufacturing plant at end of October

Set alongside this decision, however, is growing Daimler Truck optimism about the prospect for truck sales in the U.S. and Canada in 2026 and 2027. (Daimler Truck)

Daimler Truck North America’s Swan Island manufacturing plant in Portland, Ore., will close Oct. 30, a spokesman confirmed, ending Rose City manufacturing by Freightliner for the first time since 1947.

The plant at 6936 North Fathom St. opened in 1969. It was Freightliner’s third plant in Portland, starting with the original Northwest Quimby Street site opened by fabled company founder Leland James.

It is the second time Daimler Truck or a predecessor has announced plans to shutter the Swan Island plant since acquiring Freightliner in 1981. The first occasion was in 2008, when the plant was expected to shut in 2010, but a reprieve came in 2009. Production was scheduled to switch to North Carolina and Mexico, Transport Topics reported at the time.

Set alongside this decision, however, is growing Daimler Truck optimism about the prospect for truck sales in the U.S. and Canada in 2026 and 2027.

This time, DTNA will move manufacturing of the Western Star X-Series, Freightliner eCascadia and Freightliner eM2 trucks to North Carolina and South Carolina with the aim of optimizing the Daimler Truck unit’s production network, the spokesman said in an email July 31.

A total of about 375 jobs will be affected, the company said, although an Oregon Office of Workforce Investments Worker Adjustment Notification said 387 employees would be laid off.

“This decision was not made lightly. The Portland team has played a critical role in DTNA’s success for decades, and we are deeply grateful for the dedication, expertise and contributions of our employees. We are committed to supporting impacted team members throughout the transition, including severance benefits, transition assistance, opportunities to explore internal openings and access to additional support resources,” the spokesman said.

Portland will remain DTNA’s headquarters and engineering base in North America. A $40 million engineering and training facility opened earlier in July. DTNA opened a new headquarters in the Swan Island neighborhood in 2016.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union District W24 and Local 1005 said July 30 that bargaining on the closure would commence in the week beginning Aug. 3.

“IAM’s contract with Daimler covers key issues related to a closure, including severance, retiree health care and benefit extensions,” which the union promised to enforce. An in-person meeting for members to ask questions of the union leadership will be held Aug. 15.

Focusing on Carolinas

North Carolina has long been a production nucleus for DTNA and Freightliner. The Cleveland Truck Plant is Freightliner’s largest U.S. manufacturing plant. The Mount Holly facility — which opened in 1979 — and the Gastonia plant are also in the Tar Heel State.

Mount Holly produces Freightliner’s medium-duty models. The Gastonia facility carries out stamping, metal fabrication and subassembly of cab and chassis parts.

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(Daimler Truck)

DTNA’s Thomas Built Buses and Freightliner Custom Chassis units, meanwhile, operate nearby facilities in High Point, N.C., and Gaffney, S.C.

Some 2,000 DTNA production plant employees at Mount Holly and Gastonia, as well as in Detroit, Portland and Saltillo, Mexico, were laid off in July 2025 as the longest freight market downturn in industry memory hacked away at truck demand.

North American demand

However, DTNA and Daimler Truck executives are now optimistic about the prospects for Class 8 truck demand in North America, so much so that the parent company raised its guidance and that for DTNA on July 22.

The Department of Commerce’s approval of Daimler Truck’s U.S. content application, effective Nov. 1, 2025, which updated the company’s tariff framework, also helped.

DTNA declined to provide more details on which tariffs were affected. Daimler Truck will report second-quarter 2026 earnings Aug. 7, with analysts sure to seek more details beyond those provided in the ad hoc release.

Daimler Truck raised its full-year 2026 truck and bus sales guidance for DTNA by 10,000 vehicles in the announcement, to 160,000-180,000 vehicles.

DTNA also plans to boost the workforce at Mount Holly due to the freight market rebound’s impact on truck demand, CEO John O’Leary revealed exclusively to TT at the start of July.

The plant will bring back 400 employees laid off in July 2025. In addition, DTNA intends to hire an additional 200 workers by the end of 2026 as part of plans to add a second shift.

DTNA’s sales of trucks and buses rose 8% year over year in Q2, the first quarterly sales increase compared with a year-ago period in six quarters. The company sold 41,687 vehicles in Q2, compared with 38,580 trucks and school buses in the year-ago period. Sales also jumped 41.6% compared with the first three months of 2026 as carrier confidence in the ongoing freight market rebound ratcheted up.

O’Leary told TT he expects truck demand to continue to accelerate in the second half of 2026 as a result of heavy replacement demand from larger on-highway fleets.

“There’s definitely some pent-up demand on the replacement side that we’re starting to see enter the fray, and I would expect to see more of that,” O’Leary said. “There’s been a lot of suppressed purchasing over this freight recession over the last three years where they’ve aged their fleets, not because they necessarily wanted to, but just because the profitability of their businesses wasn’t as strong.”