Toyota

Toyota employees working overtime to meet truck demand

Toyota plant workers in San Antonio are doing overtime, and the automaker adds a Shift on Saturdays as demand for pickup trucks outstrips supply. “Toyota continues to see strong demand for our pickup trucks. However, stock remains scarce,” Toyota spokesman Victor Vanov said in an email. Consumers’ call to Toyota pickup trucks and other automakers has been positive for an American automotive industry devastated by COVID-19. Company officials said overtime was added to each of the two Monday-Friday shifts at the South Side plant, which produces Tacoma and Tundra vans. Only one Saturday shift will start next weekend. Toyota reopened its San Antonio plant and peaked in North America on May 11 after the seven-week final for a thorough cleanup and instituted measures to protect personnel from the spread of COVID-19. The closure led to a shortage of trucks. However, a San Antonio Toyota worker filed an opposing complaint to the manufacturer with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, accusing the company of not sticking to coVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is one of more than 6,000 open pandemic court cases filed with OHSA in the United States. Toyota spokeswoman Melissa Sparks said, “The fitness and protection of our team members remains our priority and we stick to all the right guidelines.” As Toyota prepares to increase production, July figures show that midsize Tacoma and full-size Tundra sales have fallen from the same month last year. But automotive industry analysts said the numbers were misleading as stocks of weak trucks slowed sales.

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