Australia’s largest supplier of local manufactured, heavy-duty road transport trailer solutions, has today announced that it will be closing its trailer manufacturing facility in Carole Park, Queensland.
MaxiTRANS officially opened the 14,300 square metre site in February 2021, but is shutting up shop in March next year to focus on “centralising” its trailer manufacturing business in Ballarat, Victoria.
The media release announcement did not say how many jobs will be lost with the closure, but when the facility opened, MaxiTRANS said it would be employing 70 new people with a further 70 operational jobs expected to follow over the ensuing five years.
A statement said that MaxiTRANS is in the process of discussions with reallocating roles to other areas of the business and supporting relocation to other sites, where applicable.
“The new Carole Park facility is an exciting expansion for MaxiTRANS which will provide greater safety, flexibility, efficiency and quality outcomes for our business and our customers,” said Dean Jenkins, MaxiTRANS managing director and CEO at the time.
MaxiTRANS said pandemic pressures, including continual changes in the labour market and growing costs, meant the site was no longer “viable”.
Executive chairman Greg L’estrange said he was saddened by this decision, but is excited for the long-term future of the business.
“Since Australian Trailer Solutions Group (ATSG) purchased the MaxiTRANS trailer business in September 2021, our focus has been on setting the business up for long-term sustainability,” L’Estrange said.
“This is to ensure that we can remain a viable Australian business to continue supporting our customers long into the future, as we have done so for over 75 years in the industry.”
ATSG is coming into its third year of ownership of MaxiTRANS, and the business is preparing for the next phase of its expansion with the company investing significantly to grow and develop the Ballarat manufacturing site.
“We take this opportunity to thank everyone within the Carole Park manufacturing facility for their total commitment and extensive efforts to try and boost the capability of the site. Unfortunately the decision was needed so that our business remains here long into the future,” a statement added.