A declining national economy resulted Tuesday in 36 layoffs at Trail King Industries in West Fargo.
All but one were full-time employees, said John Rust, manager of the semi-trailer producing plant.
"After yesterday's event, we are down to 122," said Rust. "We had peaked at about 185 about a year ago as we were ramping up getting into this plant."
Trail King opened a new, 160,000-square-foot plant in West Fargo last year.
Rust attributed the cuts to current economic conditions.
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"We saw things starting to slow down last fall, reacted accordingly, quit hiring. We kept people busy through the third week in January, and orders had just fallen off the face of the earth," Rust said.
The plant shut down for six weeks. "We're just coming out of that right now. But even after six weeks of no production, the orders hadn't come back to justify the same staffing we had," Rust said.
"It's always distressing when you hear that kind of news," said West Fargo Mayor Rich Mattern. "We just have to keep the faith that this thing is going to turn around."
Trail King, a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Carlisle Companies, produces three types of semi-trailers at its West Fargo facility.
Since December, the company has also laid off 117 employees at its plant in Mitchell, S.D., including 75 on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
