Freightliner LLC will add 300 jobs at its Sterling truck plant in St. Thomas, Ont., boosting employment there to 1,500 people amid increasing demand for heavy and medium-duty trucks as the U.S. economic recovery takes hold and sparks growing shipments of goods.

"After three very challenging years, the North American heavy-duty truck market is recovering and we have a positive outlook for continuing improvement," said Rainer Schmueckle, president of Portland, Ore.-based Freightliner, which is a division of transportation and automotive giant DaimlerChrysler AG.

Hiring will begin immediately for a weekend shift to complement the existing two-shift operation where the day shift operates Monday to Friday and night-shift workers put in 10-hour days Monday to Thursday.

The new shift is a Friday-to-Sunday operation.

High-quality work and high productivity by members of the Canadian Auto Workers union at the plant contributed to the jump in production, said CAW president Buzz Hargrove.

Truck production and sales in North America soared last month and have been rising for several months after hitting a trough three years ago.

"We've been very soft for two-three years," said industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Recent increases in the price of fuel in the United States -- the destination for 80 per cent or more of the trucks assembled in St. Thomas -- appear to have had little impact so far on demand.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 239,960 sales in February was the highest level since mid-2000, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. analyst Steve Haggerty said in a report last week.

Production by Freightliner, Navistar International Corp. of Chicago, Paccar Inc. and others rose 46 per cent in February, Mr. Haggerty noted.