Green and Lower Emissions Manufacturing will Drive Jobs-

Volvo Powertrain Just Celebrated 50 Years in Hagerstown Adding New Workers

Volvo and other companies are adding jobs and expanding manufacturing by embracing new technologies and opportunities. For example, customers clearly want “greener” vehicles. So Volvo Group North America is selling more engines, trucks and buses by increasing their fuel efficiency while reducing the amount of greenhouse gases they produce. Volvo has made that happen through emission reduction technologies that include Diesel Particulate Filters and its advanced Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system.

The Powertrain plant in Hagerstown, Maryland is changing from a water-based paint system to powder-based and reducing the paint process environmental footprint.  In powder coatings there is little or no solvent, and flow and cure are produced by heating of the substrate after electrostatic application of the dry powder. 

Volvo Group North America's Powertrain will also become the U.S. and global manufacturing center for Automated Manual Transmissions (AMT) production which truck drivers and owners are demanding. AMT is already the standard in Europe.  An automated transmission is a system which uses special sensors to execute gear changing on the command of the driver or by a computer. This removes the need for a clutch changes in traffic in which the driver otherwise needs to depress a clutch before making a gear change.

Volvo and other manufacturers have demonstrated that manufacturing is the key to creating jobs. This weekend, the Volvo Powertrain plant celebrated 50 years of continuous operation there. It builds engines for Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks, Inc. Thanks to new orders from truck fleet customers and individual drivers, Volvo Group North America is putting people to work – and calling back those lay-offs during the recession.

Volvo Group North America has called back or created 2,000 manufacturing jobs in the past six months.

Today, the Volvo Group operates manufacturing facilities in six states  where jobs are much-needed: Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia., Tennessee, and Maryland.  It currently employs more than 10,000 people in this country. Volvo Group North America manufacturing continues to be a critically important engine for job growth. And clean-tech is one way to get there.