Fontaine Modification Vocational Services is moving production of its modification operations for Peterbilt trucks to Garland, Texas.
Production was in Garland until 2012, when Fontaine moved most of the Peterbilt modification production to Charlotte, NC, or Gainesville, GA. The company said that increases in demand for modifications is leading it back to Garland, where the modified vehicles can be reentered into the Peterbilt shipping system, thereby saving costs.
“Using the Garland facility enables us to be closer to Peterbilt’s manufacturing facility in Denton and also to consolidate work that had been done in Charlotte and Gainesville,” said Ivan Barnes, general manager of Fontaine’s Garland facility. “There has been a lot of growth over the past year in the auto hauler segment, along with requests for additional modifications on Peterbilt trucks. This consolidation will help us be more efficient and improve vehicle turnaround time.”
Limited production will begin in Garland this month, and the facility should be fully operational in early 2015. Fontaine expects to staff the modification center with a mix of relocated current personnel, employees who previously worked at the Garland facility and new hires.