Union Tank Car Co.’s new UTLX car plant has begun production operations in Alexandria, La. So far, a dozen 30,000-gallon cars produced by the Alexandria work force have passed final inspection and are qualified for service.

"The two-car-per-day rate of production allows us to ensure the absolute quality of every car while we train new tank car people to work safely," said Blaise Horban, Union Tank Car Director of Operations. “Product quality and work safety are the highest of our start up goals.”

Currently, only one of the plant's three in-line assembly lines is building cars. As staffing increases, the plant will be able to run three in-line designs and a specialty car line, simultaneously. This new capacity, in conjunction with the manufacturing output of existing UTLX plants in Indiana and Texas, provides true assembly line efficiencies for the first time.

"We know that there are people in the area who want to work and even more that want to come home to a good job. We want those people to come to work at UTLX Manufacturing, Inc. and we are willing to train them," said Jim Shirvinski, vice president of manufacturing. Graduates from the LTC welding classes — and a second school at the plant that will begin on June 26 — will train the staff needed to produce 40 cars per week by 2007.

Union Tank Car Co. is the leading designer, builder, and manufacturer of specialized railcars. Including its Canadian affiliate, Procor Limited, it owns a fleet of approximately 85,000 railcars. In addition to manufacturing facilities in East Chicago, Indiana and Sheldon, Texas, the Chicago- based company operates a North American network of repair shops, lining shops and On-Site Repair locations.

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