Fontaine Modification plans to re-open its truck modification center in Springfield, OH, this December to provide post-production modifications on Navistar on-highway and vocational trucks for dealers and fleets across North America.
Fontaine – a division of Marmon Highway Technologies (MHT) – shuttered its 20 year-old Springfield facility back in 2011 when Navistar announced it was shifting truck production to Texas and Mexico.
The decision to reopen the Springfield facility, however, is due to Navistar’s Oct. 30 announcement that it will close its Garland, TX, truck manufacturing operation early in 2013 and re-locate all production to both Springfield and Escobedo, Mexico.
“We will also consolidate all of our Navistar truck steering conversions, including stand-up right drive and sit-down dual drive, at the Springfield modification center, similar to what we had done in Garland,” added Will Trantham, president of Fontaine Modification. “We have found that consolidating these more complex modifications into a single center results in increased quality and reduced vehicle dwell time.”
In addition to its Springfield operation, Fontaine continues to support both Navistar and Freightliner post-production needs for dealers and fleets out of its Laredo, TX, facility for trucks produced in Mexico. Fontaine has a total of eight modification centers nationwide that include: Denton, TX; Garland, TX; Laredo, TX; Charlotte, NC; Dublin, VA; Gainesville, GA; and Williamstown, WV.
