A costly loss of production after rain collapses roof for trailer makers

Any day General Coach is not in production is a costly one according to President Roger Faulkner.

“Millions, I can't afford to lose any production,” he explains to CTV News London. “Like if I lose a day, it mounts up to another month. As production you know, because it's a domino effect, right?”

The Hensall, Ont. company was shut down Thursday after heavy rain storms on Wednesday collapsed the roof in a rarely used building in the factory.

“Last night around six o'clock, seven o'clock. And this is an old building. It's been up since 1950. And there's one room behind me that…of course if you look at the barrel roof, all of the water was coming into this one area, and the roof just was old. It couldn't take it and collapsed,” said Faulkner.

150 of the 220 employees were sent home for the day Thursday while building inspectors assessed the damage to the boiler room building. Faulkner was anxious to get past the ordeal, and get back to work.

“We don't need a boiler this time of year. It needs a new roof. But we're going to continue to operate, you know, reality is that we don't need this room. And if it gets wet, it's not going to hurt anything,” he says.

General Coach builds trailers that are used on movie sets around the world, most recently breaking into the Australian market.

By Thursday afternoon, Faulkner learned they were given the green light from inspectors to resume operations on Friday.

Damage to the compressor and boiler is still being assessed, and a new roof for the structure will have to be installed.