September 19th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

Officials say the Volvo Group is laying off 143 people at its truck manufacturing plant in Hagerstown. Company spokesman John Mies told news outlets in a statement Friday that the layoff will be effective Monday, and is in addition to 138 workers who were laid off during the first quarter of the year. The group says that 2015 was the second best year ever for the company, in terms of demand for heavy-duty trucks, with over 300,000 vehicles sold. The projected demand for this year has dropped and will be about 240,000. Mies says about 1,500 people work at the powertrain-manufacturing facility. He says the layoffs at Volvo will be in production positions.