Vehicles are rolling off the line around the clock at our plant in Normal, Illinois.
Ramping production means using every possible hour of the day to build. With first shift running during the day and the second shift, on which teams now build vehicles through the night, we've increased our production capacity and taken another step in our ramp.
The plant is home to our manufacturing operations. We build four different vehicles there under one roof — the R1T, R1S, EDV 700 and EDV 500.
Meet Junior.
When we found out one of our second-shift team members was a passionate photographer outside of work, we wanted to know what a night at the plant looked like through his lens.
Junior and his teammates work on the chassis line in General Assembly adding the final components to the skateboard that make the vehicle go, from the wiring harness and fluid lines to the steering and suspension systems.
We spent some time with Junior documenting a night on the second shift and talking about his life, his work and his teammates.
Q. Junior, you’ve been at Rivian about three months now. What drew you here and how’s it been so far?
A. So far it’s going good. I have some experience in manufacturing for a company producing food for kids before. The routine here is not much of a change. But I was excited to try the adventure at Rivian. We are producing electric vehicles and as the world is facing climate change, I feel like I have to do something for the planet, for the future. I think about climate change impacting everywhere. People are talking about it in my country as well.
Shinetta is always dancing. But here she's assembling a front right steering knuckle in a subassembly area next to the line.
Q. Where did you grow up?
A. I’m originally from Congo — the DRC — which is located in central Africa. I’m about to travel back to my country visiting family for two weeks, actually. My first language is French and I also speak some Arabic from the time I lived in Morocco. I moved to the United States in 2020, to Bloomington-Normal [Illinois].
Q. You work on the night shift — how is that?
A. Yes. I think I feel more comfortable on night shift because it allows me to be a part-time student, too. I’m studying business [at Heartland Community College] and I do photography on the side.
We use a hand scanner to scan each part as we build the chassis. Here, Ty is holding a tablet that we use to track all that information for quality control.
Q. You have a ton going on. How do you balance all of that?
A. [chuckles] It’s a little bit of a challenge, but most of the time when I go home, I try to sleep for four hours and then I can focus a little bit on school. If I have to go to class, then I have time for two or three more hours of sleep before my shift starts at 9 p.m. It’s just time management, so it’s not too bad.
Anthony is my closest friend at work. I took this photo of him at Station 50 on the Chassis line at the top of our shift.
Q. What do you enjoy most about being a photographer?
A. I don’t have any photos from when I was a kid, unfortunately. Then in 2004, my big brother gave me a camera as a gift, and I started taking pictures. What I like the most is to have memories, like souvenirs. That’s very, very important.
[I like taking] portraits. Just trying to make people feel comfortable. When I take someone’s picture, sometimes they say, “I don’t like pictures, I look bad.” Then I say, "why don’t we take some." And I show them and they say, “Ohh.” So this is what I like the most. People can see themselves in the camera and change the way they are thinking about themselves.
Q. What’s it like working on the line and with your team?
A. All the teams are great. We find time to discuss how we spent the day, what food we ate, and also funny stuff and joking around. As it’s a night shift, the way to keep us happy is having fun and passing the time. What I love about my job is meeting people. I’m going into my third year in the United States, so being with people and trying to learn about American culture is interesting for me. My closest friend at work is Anthony. He’s a good guy.
Q. You mentioned your personal interest in climate issues. What else motivates you at work?
A. When I’m outside and I see a Rivian truck, I’m proud of myself. I know I put my hands on that truck, so that really gets me excited. I tell my family about [Rivian] and how we are part of the future, and they like it. I really feel happy telling people where I work.
Q. How many vehicles would you say you’ve put your hands on and helped build so far?
A. I can’t say for sure. A lot.
This is Janiyah. I asked her to pose for a photo on the line as we all went on break and she gave a good smile.
Q. What’s hard about the job?
A. I always like to stay positive. If you are negative, you can affect all the other people around you. Because if you think it's hard, it's going to be hard. Like, where we put [steering] knuckles on [the vehicle]. Most people doing it for the first time struggle. This is the hard part. Checking time [is hard], too. The next station is always waiting on you.
Chris helps everybody out on our line. He's really good at getting the parts in exactly the right position before they're installed.
Q. What does Rivian's mission to "Keep the World Adventurous Forever" mean to you?
For me, I can say it's like a wake-up call for the world. As long as we have things like climate change, we need to be more aware about what's going on to keep the world safe, not for us, but maybe for our legacy.
Q. Thanks for talking with us, Junior, and thanks for the great photos.
A. You're welcome.
Interested in joining our team?
Visit our careers page for more information.
© 2026 Rivian
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