Third Shifts Return, andThat's No Yawning Matter

"Automakers are adding overnight production lines, and lots of companies benefit

"We'vedefinitely seen an uptick in business and traffic around here since the shift was added"Venus Walker gets her two teenage kidssettled in each night and then heads toher job at General Motors' metal-stamp-ing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, about 60miles southeast of Cleveland. She getshome in time to see them off to school.

Walker, 51, is one of thousands of auto-workers in the U.S. benefiting from thereturn of a third shift at factories-often

from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. For the first timesince the car industry's collapse in 2009,many plants are running 24 hours a day.At the nadir, some plants ran only one

eight-hour shift. U.S. auto plants this yearmay operate at about 81 percent capacityafter falling as low as 49 percent in 2009,according to estimates from researcherIHS Automotive.

The new third shifts, adding morethan 4,300 jobs in four states for GMalone, increase payroll-tax revenue anddemand at odd hours for everythingfrom day care and dentistry to food andfinancial services. "I like the third shiftbecause it's flexible," explains Walker,whose 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. workhours give her plenty of time to attend

A Mike Rhodes,a work-family

representativeatGM'sauto

manufacturingcomplex in

Lordstown, Ohio,stops at the gasstation beforehis third shift

This eatery is open until 1 a.m. to serve shift workers t

-« Venus Walkersays working thethird shift allows

her to attendschool functions

* Aaron Bohr,whose family

runs the Barrelof Monkeys

childcare center,where workers'

kids can stayovernight

f Third shifterTeresa Thomas

checks carunderbellies at

GM's Lordstowncomplex

a Arlene Oswald,a cook at Ross'

Eatery & Pub,works late to

feed third-shiftemployees near

Lordstown

* Floyd BradleyJr., a hood anddoor fitter atthe GM plant,

inspects sedansrolling off theline in the wee

hours

her 14-year-old daughter's quiz bowl

competitions or her 16-year-old son'strack meets. She also can handle day-time errands or make a run to the den-tist-if she's willing to sacrifice sleep.

Automakers are increasing produc-tion at car plants after U.S. light vehiclesales rose at least 10 percent for twostraight years for the first time since1984 and grew at a faster rate than Chi-na's sales for the first time in at least13 years. States that were hit hard by thedownturn, such as Michigan and Ohio,are among the biggest beneficiaries.

Since GM and Chrysler emergedfrom bankruptcy in the middle of 2009,GM, Ford Motor, Chrysler Group,Nissan Motor, and Kia Motors haveeither added U.S. production beyondthe traditional two shifts or announced

plans to do so at 16 plants, including sixin Michigan. "There's no question we'rerunning full-out," says Kirn Rodriguez,a principal at KPMG's auto consultingbusiness in Detroit. "After China, theU.S. was the market where executives

expect the most growth, which is stag-gering considering where we were."Businesses from auto suppliers to truck-

ing companies are hustling to add ca-

pacity and find new workers to handlethe increased production, she says.

For divorced mom Bobbi Marsh,who until recently worked on the thirdshift at GM's Lordstown auto manufac-

turing complex, the late-night hoursmeant more off-hour grocery trips tothe 24-hour Giant Eagle supermarketand late-night orders from Ross' Eatery& Pub, which gets 75 percent of its res-taurant business from the three shiftsat the Lordstown plants. The restau-rant now runs from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. toaccommodate the new shift, expanding

last year from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. "We hadbeen treading water for what seemedlike an eternity-it was just me, mymom, and my aunt running the place"during the auto crisis, says owner EarlRoss. He now employs 20 people tosupply the plant's workers with friedchicken, burgers, and his signature$6.99 Philly steak sandwich.

At the new Barrel of Monkeys Child-care & Preschool Center in Austintown,Ohio, children often watch cartoons orhave an evening snack before brush-

ing their teeth and drifting off to

sleep for the night on a cot, says

co-founder Melissa Bohr. In the morn-

ing their parents pick them up or theycatch the bus to school. "We try tomake it as comfortable and as familiaras possible for them," says Bohr, whostarted the day-care center in Novem-ber with her brother, partly in antici-

pation of increased demand due to a

new third shift added at GM's Lords-

town complex about 10 miles away."We knew there was going to be a needfor this." Bohr says her 5,200-square-foot facility already serves about 100children spread mostly across days and

afternoons, and her overnight shift will

likely grow as the year progresses nowthat the GM factory is building Chevro-let Cruze sedans 24 hours a day. "We've

definitely seen an uptick in traffic andbusiness around here since the shiftwas added," says Bohr.

The 20 new jobs Bohr says she has

created so far at Barrel of Monkeysaren't an anomaly. A third shift at a

Midwestern U.S. auto plant typicallyrequires about 1,000 autoworkers andcreates about 7,850 spinoff jobs rang-ing from police and fire workers to con-

struction, retail, and restaurant employ-ees, according to estimates from theCenter for Automotive Research in AnnArbor, Mich. About one-third of the an-

cillary positions are within 60 miles ofthe plant, with others at farther-awaysuppliers and service providers.

The overnight shift at GM's sport-utility vehicle factory in Delta Town-ship, Mich., near Lansing, has meanta 40 percent increase in business atTony M's restaurant nearby, says StefanFarrell, general manager at the eatery,which specializes in pizza and lasagna.The restaurant has expanded businesshours to 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily from its

11 a.m. to 10 p.m. workday before thethird shift was added at the SUV plantin 2010, he says. About 15 workers whodrive trucks delivering parts to the

plant were eating nearby as he talked."When GM is down, it's a ghost town,"says Farrell.

Rather than running round-the-clockinto a full third shift, Chrysler and Fordare adding so-called third crews, whichrotate in groups of additional workersduring less-busy times of the day andevening and on weekends to allow theplants to operate more hours weekly.Ford will have four plants in Kentucky,Michigan, and Illinois on the three-crew

system within the next year, meaningthose plants will run about 120 hours

out of the 168 possible, instead of the100 hours for a two-shift run. Chrysler'sJeep Grand Cherokee plant in Detroitwill add a similar system next year.

Plants outside of what is tradition-

ally considered auto country are also

adding third shifts. Nissan already runsthree shifts on the Altima sedan as-

sembly line at its Canton (Miss.) fac-

tory, says Bill Krueger, vice-chairmanof Nissan Americas' operations. Theautomaker also is studying a third shiftat its largest North American plant,in Smyrna, Term. "It's in our future,"Krueger says. Auto suppliers nearbyare talking about adding third shifts oftheir own in Rutherford County, Term.,home to Nissan's Smyrna plant andabout a 75-minute drive from Volkswa-gen's Chattanooga factory, says HollySears, vice-president for economic de-

velopment for the Rutherford CountyChamber of Commerce. "Every singleauto supplier we've talked to recent-ly has a positive outlook for 2012 and

2013," she says.West Point, Ga., with about 3,500

residents, has seen new hours at den-tists' offices, banks, health clubs, andother businesses since the local Kia

factory added a third shift last June,

says Randy Jackson, vice-presidentfor human resources at the 3,ooo-employee operation. Nellie's Day Carein West Point has added 8 to 10 kidswho spend the night, mostly the chil-dren of Kia employees, says Bo Barber,who took over operating the 24-year-old business from his mother, Nellie,about five years ago. A year agothey had no overnight guests.The overnight business

required an additionalworker for the day-carecenter, which servesabout 46 children onthree shifts with six

employees, Barber says."Third shifts are be-

ginning to sprout up in alot of places now," says Jack-

son, who has worked at U.S.

auto factories for 31 years. "Businesses

are expanding here, and it's helping thecommunity." —Jeff Green

The bottom line As U.S. auto manufacturingrebounds, third shifts have been added to 16

plants. There's a ripple effect for local jobs