Mack Trucks plans to lay off 305 employees at the end of February at its Lower Macungie Township, Pa., assembly plant as the manufacturer adjusts to lower market demand for heavy-duty trucks.

After two years of strong demand, the heavy-duty truck market is shifting into a lower gear, a slowdown that likely will lead to layoffs at Mack Trucks’ assembly plant in Lower Macungie Township, Pa.

Mack Trucks announced late on Nov. 3 that United Auto Workers members ratified a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the company. The contract covers more than 3,500 Mack workers across six facilities in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida.

With the Mack Trucks strike slated to end, a recent report from parent company Volvo Group provides a look at the heavy-duty truck market that 3,500 workers will return to next week.

The ongoing Mack Trucks strike will temporarily idle the largest Volvo truck manufacturing facility in the world.

With the market shifting into a lower gear, Mack Trucks is planning to adjust production at its Lower Macungie Township, Pa., assembly plant by scheduling two down weeks during the fourth quarter.

For Mack Trucks, 2018 was a good year. While the company’s market share declined slightly, Mack had its best year of production since 2015 and orders flew in at a double-digit clip, keeping the manufacturer’s Lower Macungie Township plant busy as it tried to keep up with demand.

What can brown do for you? Apparently, it can fill a 1 million-square-foot warehouse along Route 33 in Palmer Township, Pa.

Back on March 23, 2017, President Donald Trump welcomed trucking industry representatives to the White House for a discussion on health care. During their visit, Trump, wearing an “I [heart] truckers” pin, climbed into the cab of a Mack truck parked on the lawn, pumped his fists and pretended to drive the stationary big rig.

Mack Defense of Upper Macungie Township, Pa., has landed one of its largest contracts, a deal that has the potential to keep the Mack Trucks’ subsidiary busy for the next seven years.