Peterbilt Permanently Closing Nashville Plant

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Peterbilt Corp. permanently closed its truck plant in Nashville.

A local newspaper quoted plant manager Larry Vessels who said the decision means the loss of about 390 jobs at the idled plant.

Peterbilt manufactures over-the-road commercial trucks and said it will consolidate work at its plant in Denton, Texas.

Peterbilt General Manager Bill Jackson called the move "a difficult, but necessary decision" because sales have dropped about 70 percent in the last 18 months.

United Auto Workers Union Local 1832 President Mike Pardue said the Texas plant is nonunion and the UAW believes that's the main reason the Madison facility is the one being closed.

Vessels said a labor dispute that stopped production at the plant last June had nothing to do with the closure.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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