"When the fall hit, things sort of ground to a halt."
A halt at Titan tire marked most recently by 83 lay-offs, or about 14 percent of the plant's workforce.
"There's certainly a level of tentativeness about what the future holds in the short-term," Local Union No. 745 President Steve Vanderheyden said.
Vanderheyden says Titan's three main industries, agriculture, construction and mining all trimmed back orders late last year because of their own economic setbacks. And all that rolled into the job cuts.
"There's been less construction companies willing to buy large mining rigs for example that would have our tires on them," Vanderheyden said.
There are more bumps in the road at this Titan plant.
The company's CEO says expect temporary shutdowns like we've seen at area auto plants throughout this year.
"Two weeks of shut downs and then six weeks of work, that's the plan," Titan President Maurice Taylor said.
Taylor points to high employee costs at the Freeport plant driving these closures.
He says the first one could begin in a week or two, clearing out these cars for yet another sign of these tough economic times.
Taylor says the current employee contract does allow temporary shut-downs.
He also says there could be more changes, including downsizing the plant, by the end of the contract in November of 2010.
Taylor says the Freeport plant is the most expensive of it's three plants when it comes to personnel expenses.
Titan also operates similar plants in Iowa and Ohio.