Ford: Transportation figures in plant closure

I found this letter to the editor in today’s Pilot interesting (emphasis mine):

WHILE OUR FORD JOBS BURN, THE LEGISLATURE FIDDLES

They stopped the assembly line Thursday at work, gathered us together and showed us a seven- minute video message from Detroit. The man commended us on the quality of our work and productivity. He said we were finest group of men and women in the entire North American region. However, a transportation bottle-neck in Hampton Roads results in a $300 shipping premium being tacked on to the cost of every truck we build. This gave us a severe disadvantage as compared to the other plants in North America. Therefore, Ford Motor Co. is pulling up stakes and leaving the state of Virginia.

I’m losing my job, my wife is losing her job, our daughter is losing her job, her husband is losing his job … we had two generations at the Norfolk assembly plant. I’m an inspector; my wife assembles the front bumpers on the F-150 trucks; our kids are on the trim line. And my wife’s father retired from the plant.

You might wonder how so many family members all work at the same place but we all met at the Ford plant. I met my wife there and my daughter met her husband there. We work so much overtime. that those are the people we’re with all the time.

It nauseates me every time I think about the Virginia legislature sucking up overtime in Richmond and all the while not producing anything regarding the transportation issue.

Joel Hanssen
Norfolk

Some 400,000 F-150s will be built in Norfolk before the plant closes. The added $300 per truck will cost Ford $120 million, not a small sum by any means. No doubt there are many other reasons for closing what is arguably the most efficient Ford plant in North America but this may have been the nail in the coffin.

The transportation issue may very well strangle what little industry we have here in Hampton Roads. I certainly hope the General Assembly takes this into consideration and passes a budget to deal with this.