DUBLIN, Va. (AP) – Volvo Trucks has hired around 300 new workers at a southwest Virginia plant since the beginning of September amid growing demand for big rigs.

Spokesman John Mies tells The Roanoke Times the company’s 2018 retail sales in North America and Canada are up 60 percent from the same time last year.

With the new hiring, the plant in Dublin has 3,500 workers. That’s compared with 2,600 at the beginning of 2018 and 1,700 in January 2017.

Kenny Vieth is president of commercial vehicle industry analyst group ACT Research. He says the entire trucking industry is doing well.

He thinks part of the reason for the high demand is the tax cuts signed into law by President Donald Trump last year.