QUINTE WEST, Ont. – Great Dane Trailers is expected to formally announce that plans to build a trailer plant in the former municipality of Trenton, Ont. will be shelved until the U.S. economy improves.

“We are considering postponing the construction of the plant at this time due to market conditions,” says a spokesperson for Great Dane out of Savannah, Ga. “A final decision will not be made until the end of May.”

Exactly what the trailer giant will do isn’t much of a mystery mind you, as the final decision will be tied to the slumping economy and trucking industry south of the border.

“At this point, (to keep construction on track we’d need) a really huge turnaround in the economy and the industry as a whole,” she says. “I think it’s just normal pressures that everybody’s feeling at this time.”

The plant was originally slated to open during the spring of next year with full production numbers expected to be in the neighborhood of 6,000 van trailers built annually. n