By Dan Shaw, Evansville Courier & Press
To slow its production of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana plant in Princeton is letting employees decide if they will come to work on six days between now and August.
The company announced today that it would refrain from producing the Tundra pickup truck and Sequoia SUV at the Princeton plant on six days before the end of August. Both vehicles are made in the west side of Toyota's factory in Princeton.
The "nonproduction days" will affect about half of the 4,500 employees at the plant. The other half works in the east side of the factory, where the Sienna minivan is produced.
Meanwhile, Toyota said it would not produce the Tundra pickup truck at its San Antonio plant on 14 days between now and October.
Kelly Dillon, a spokeswoman for the Princeton plant, said Toyota is not telling employees to stay home on the nonproduction days. If they decide to come to work, they will be given tasks related to improving the plant's safety, productivity and efficiency, she said.
Or they can claim vacation time or simply take the days off without pay, Dillon said.
She declined to say what dates Toyota would halt production, noting they were scheduled next to only weekends and holidays to give workers an opportunity of having several days off in a row.
The nonproduction days will help Toyota avoid laying off workers at the Princeton plant, a step the company repeatedly has said it would not take, Dillon said.This is the first time Toyota has halted production of vehicles at the Princeton plant, she said.
"In our 11 years here, we haven't had a downturn like this," she said. "We have always been working overtime and trying to keep up with the demand for our vehicles."
She declined to speculate whether Toyota would hold more nonproduction days past August.
Meanwhile, companies that furnish supplies to the Princeton plant are taking various steps to deal with the slowing demand for their services.
Last week, Transfreight, a company that schedules shipments of parts to the plant as well as trucking some parts itself, announced it may lay off drivers. It has since found a way to keep them employed.
About 135 employees work at Transfreight in Princeton, he said.
At EnovaPremier, which assembles tires and wheels for the Toyota plant, employees are being allowed to work less than 40 hours a week if they want. The arrangement has helped Enova avoid laying off any of the 65 employees who work there, said Jim Schum, plant manager.
"By no means are we forcing anyone to leave early," Schum said.