Peterbilt to Close Madison Plant

Peterbilt Motors Company has announced the permanent closure of its truck assembly plant in Madison. The site employed 1,100 workers three years ago.

The Peterbilt plant on Myatt Drive hasn’t built trucks since being idled in July of 2008. There were some issues with hammering out a new contract with the union at the time and trucks weren’t selling well. But as recently as February of this year, company officials said they expected to restart manufacturing in Tennessee once market conditions improved. They haven’t.

Peterbilt general manager Bill Jackson says the decision to permanently close the 40-year-old Madison plant was difficult but necessary. He says the current and projected market conditions are very challenging and Peterbilt is aligning its production capacity with market demand. The truck maker is still operating a plant in Denton, Texas.