Paccar Continues Cutting Quebec Truck Manufacturing Jobs
Union Blames Section 232 Truck, Parts Tariffs for Latest 300 Job Cuts
Key Takeaways:
- Paccar laid off 300 workers at its Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec plant in late October, marking the third round of cuts since late 2024.
- Union officials said staffing has fallen to 550 amid sharply reduced production and new U.S. truck tariffs that took effect Nov. 1.
- Unifor is seeking provincial and federal support as Paccar expects to gain U.S. market share under the tariffs and broader industry cuts continue.
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Paccar instituted another round of layoffs at its Sainte-Thérèse manufacturing plant in Quebec, Canada, in late October, the third such action at the facility since the end of last year.
The reductions, which impacted 300 workers, brought unionized staffing levels at the plant to less than half of where they were 12 months ago; the company laid off 250 and 175 production plant employees in December 2024 and August, respectively.
Per union sources, there remain 550 unionized staff at the plant. Paccar is the parent of Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors.
A Paccar representative declined to comment on the layoffs before Transport Topics went to press. Paccar figures on staffing levels at the plant were not immediately available.
As recently as September, Peterbilt was touting expanded manufacturing capacity at the factory, with the first 567 vocational Class 8 truck rolling off the production line Sept. 24.
The weak truck-buying market has tempered activity at the 425,000-square-foot facility; Sainte-Thérèse is now making 18 trucks a day, compared with 92 a day previously, union sources said.
Unifor represents unionized employees at the plant and is pushing for provincial government assistance for the plant, although a recent meeting with a provincial minister was canceled.
The union met with the federal minister responsible for economic development in Quebec, Melanie Joly, on Oct. 30.
A Peterbilt 389 on a production line. (Peterbilt)
Unifor blamed the latest job losses on U.S. tariffs on heavy- and medium-duty trucks and parts that became effective Nov. 1, although precise details of the levies on imports from Mexico and Canada have yet to emerge.
“The … tariffs are a brutal blow to an already struggling company,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement Oct. 22. “This is yet another example of why Canada needs a real national industrial strategy — one that includes made-in-Canada procurement to protect our jobs, our communities and our future.”
RELATED:White House Details Trump’s New Truck Tariffs
The earlier rounds of job losses were blamed on weak demand in the U.S. due to enduring freight market weakness. Sainte-Thérèse focused solely on medium-duty trucks until recently, most of which are shipped to the U.S. The plant opened in 1999.
Unifor wants the Quebec government to issue a clear directive prioritizing local procurement.
“We are ready to work with Paccar, governments and our economic partners to maintain production here. But we must take action without delay, because every job loss further weakens our industrial future,” said Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier.
Paccar believes it can benefit from the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs, as it expects to seize a larger U.S. heavy-duty truck market share as a result. Its logic is that its brands will be less affected by the tariffs than its peers.
“I think [the introduction of the Section 232 tariffs] helps Paccar significantly, and that should be good for our customers and Paccar. I think it gives us a competitive leg up from where we’ve been,” Paccar CEO Preston Feight said Oct. 21.
“We feel like we can gain share and we feel like we have the capacity to support gaining share in the coming time frame,” Feight told analysts during the company’s third-quarter 2025 earnings call.
Paccar, in comments filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce in May as part of the agency’s Section 232 investigation, cautioned against tariffs on parts manufacturers, but backed tariffs on fully completed trucks built overseas.
Peterbilt and Kenworth operate truck assembly plants in Renton, Wash., Chillicothe, Ohio, as well as Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec. Engines are manufactured in Columbus, Miss.
The two truck makers won a 30.9% share of U.S. Class 8 retail sales in 2024, according to Wards Intelligence data. Paccar’s sales in the U.S. and Canada totaled 17,100 trucks, down 34% from 25,900 trucks in the same period 12 months earlier, although the decline was not unexpected.
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The company estimates industrywide U.S. and Canada Class 8 retail truck sales in 2025 will be in a range of 230,000 to 245,000 vehicles. At the start of 2025, Paccar estimated sales would be between 250,000 to 280,000 trucks.
Paccar expects industrywide U.S. and Canadian Class 8 retail sales for 2026 to increase to a range of 230,000 to 270,000 vehicles.
Paccar posted net income of $590 million ($1.12 per diluted share) in the most recent quarter, down 39.3% compared with $972.1 million ($1.85) in the same period a year earlier.
Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar is the third U.S. truck maker to rein in Canadian production in the past month.
General Motors ended production of BrightDrop electric delivery vans at a plant in southern Ontario earlier in October.
That same month, Stellantis ended plans to manufacture the Jeep Compass SUV at a plant near Toronto. Stellantis expects to assemble the vehicle at an Illinois plant instead.
Kenworth and Peterbilt’s peers among Class 8 truck manufacturers cut production plant jobs earlier in 2025, with Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks paring back their workforces in the spring, as did International Motors. Daimler Truck North America — parent company of Freightliner and Western Star — announced layoffs in July.
