North Carolina logistics demand is being set right now by factory announcements rather than by freight cycles. In August, Governor Josh Stein announced that Prysmian will invest more than $1 billion at its Claremont plant in Catawba County, adding 385 jobs and 975,000 square feet for a new glass production facility and doubling fiber optic capacity. Claremont sits a few miles up I-40 from Cargo Integrated Logistics’ Conover warehouse.
A Billion Dollar Catawba County Expansion on the I-40 Corridor
Prysmian chose Claremont over a competing site in Hungary, and the scale of the win is local history. It stands as the largest existing-industry expansion Catawba County has recorded, in a county that already absorbed a decade of data center and manufacturing investment. The new positions average $60,870 against a county average of $56,937. Plans for the property include an expanded truck dock with a new loading and unloading area, which is the part that turns into freight.
Truck Manufacturing Is Consolidating in the Carolinas
Truck manufacturing is moving in the same direction. Daimler Truck North America will close its Portland, Oregon plant on October 30 and shift Western Star X-Series, Freightliner eCascadia and eM2 production to existing plants in Mount Holly, Cleveland and Gastonia along with a South Carolina facility. Mount Holly is recalling 400 laid-off workers and hiring 200 more before the end of the year. The company has also announced a new U.S. plant breaking ground in late 2026 for 2029 production, with the site still under evaluation.
Reshoring Is Adding Warehouse Demand in Lincolnton and Conover
Tariff pressure is pulling work back to the region at smaller scale too. A German manufacturer running its Lincolnton plant at capacity is now bringing in five containers a week of raw material and looking outside its own walls for storage. That pattern repeats across Catawba and Lincoln counties. Manufacturers who expand faster than their footprint allows need somewhere to stage material, and they need it close enough that a truck can shuttle it in a single shift.
3PL Warehouse Space in Conover and Lincolnton
Warehouse space on the I-40 corridor is what absorbs all of this. CIL operates food-grade warehousing in Conover and Lincolnton with near real-time inventory visibility through its customer portal and a secured trailer yard on site. Manufacturers scaling into the Carolinas can start a conversation about space here.
