Builds Business

2011
Vol. 4
Mod Center
Builds Business
Many Cultures, More Sales | Waste Hauler Soars with CNG
VIEWPOINT
Beyond the Basics
Mack Adapts to Serve New Audiences
Kevin Flaherty
Senior Vice President
U.S. and Canada
For many years, Mack has been guided by a few very important principles on how we
should build our trucks.
Of course, there is “balanced design,” the idea that a truck with the major components
designed, engineered and built by the same organization will be more efficient and perform
better. The past couple of issues of this magazine have examined the powertrain’s impact on
balanced design.
Mack also practices “application excellence,” where our 111 years of real-world
experience and industry-leading technology are used to deliver exactly the right truck for a
customer’s particular operation. The stories in this issue of Bulldog convincingly demonstrate
the value of both concepts in action for Mack customers.
Our customers have always been able to spec their trucks for specific applications. With
the New Vehicle Option Center (NVOC), we take the quest for application excellence to
a new level. Need a longer wheelbase or twin-steer axles? We can do that. Need a factoryinstalled PTO so your chassis is ready to work when it arrives at your site? We can do that,
too. Known within the trade as the Mod Center, NVOC allows Mack to custom-engineer
products for big and small fleets alike. Whatever the need, whatever the application, the
folks at the Mod Center can do it.
The environment is on everyone’s mind and Mack has addressed this issue head-on with
the introduction of compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks. We’re helping customers sustain
their businesses as well as the environment by offering clean and efficient CNG vehicles.
Colorado’s Alpine Waste & Recycling is a prime example of a company that’s using these
trucks to gain a competitive edge.
Mack is also adapting to a changing workforce. Dealers from Toronto to Los Angeles
are reaching out to an increasingly diverse audience by hiring sales representatives who
understand the language and the culture of these customers. That’s helping to build
relationships and increase market share in key areas.
There’s more in this issue: a reliable aggregate hauler in Massachusetts, heavy-haul
sales in Ontario, truck-driving champs in Arkansas and Mack’s first Pedigree™ Bulldog
in Australia. Not to mention Mack’s recurring role at the box office in the popular
“Transformers” franchise.
There’s a lot of exciting things going on at Mack.
Enjoy the ride.
Kevin Flaherty
Senior Vice President
U.S. and Canada
2 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
IN THIS ISSUE
Vol. 4, 2011
4
Greg Wentz, left, and Dave Peters put the finishing touches on a new Mack ® Pinnacle ™
.
BIG STORY
04
FEATURES
08
COMPANY NEWS
DEALER FOCUS
12
FLEET SPOTLIGHT
16
FROM THE ROAD
18
WELCOME TO THE PACK
19
FROM THE VAULT
20
DOG BITES
22
LETTERS
22
PHOTO OP
23
10
Mack at the Movies.
Reliability goes hand in hand.
10
16
Published since 1920 • Vol. 4, 2011
Bulldog® is published by the Marketing Department of Mack Trucks, Inc. for Mack customers, distributors and enthusiasts.
TM Trademarks of Mack Trucks, Inc. ®Registered trademarks of Mack Trucks, Inc. ©2011 Mack Trucks, Inc. Mack Canada Inc. Mack Trucks Australia Pty. Ltd. Printed in USA.
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 3
BIG STORY
THE
MOD
SQUAD
NEW VEHICLE OPTION CENTER BUILDS BUSINESS
Dan Cowher faced a
dilemma. Veolia Environmental
Services had just received a
contract for recycling in a city
near St. Louis, Missouri, and
needed more trucks. Veolia’s
Solid Waste Division, based
in Milwaukee and part of the
world’s largest waste services
company, needed 14 drop-frame
chassis that could accommodate
manual-loading recycling
bodies — they reduce time
and stress since workers don’t
have to reach as high to
empty cans.
So the fleet’s director of solid waste
ordered Mack® TerraPro™ chassis from the
Kriete Group’s Milwaukee Truck Sales.
All went well until a third-party modifier
caused delays and mechanical issues. It
was not a good situation.
So the second cousin to former
Pittsburgh Steelers’ coach Bill Cowher
called a different play: a hand-off to
4 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
the Mack New Vehicle Option Center.
NVOC not only finished the job, it shaved
12 weeks off the production schedule.
Since then the operation, known
in the industry as the Mod Center, has
customized 18 chassis for Veolia. The
center engineered brackets, relocated air
dryers and other components and worked
with the body supplier to get Veolia back
in the game.
“We wanted OEM-engineered
components,” Cowher says. “The Mod
Center will engineer something that is
not currently in the spec today so it can
be done on the assembly line. That will
save us time on future orders. The center
is very customer-focused and fair. I call
them ‘Mission Impossible.’ Just call [center
director] Vic Sherbrick and he does it.”
One Stop Shop
There are actually two Mod Centers
in the Mack universe: NVOC1 inside
Macungie Assembly Operations and
NVOC2 at the Mack Customer Center
in Allentown. Opened in 1997, NVOC1
handles vocational trucks while NVOC2,
which debuted in 2010, specializes in
highway models. The centers employ
a staff of 38, including two full-time
engineers and four designers.
They work their magic on all Mack
models. NVOC lengthens and shortens
wheelbases and installs pusher, tag axles
and multi-steer axles. It can install
all-wheel-drive axles to convert a Granite®
model into a 6x6. Pinnacle™ models get
wet-line kits, hydraulic systems for dump
bodies and walking trailers. NVOC can put a
36-inch sleeper, and 100,000-pound-capacity
rear planetary axles on a Titan. It can install
roof-mounted air conditioning units on
TerraPro models. It builds twin-steer
Granite models for the Canadian market.
The Mod Center also works for
Mack International. Right now it’s helping
Chile’s leading Mack distributor, SALFA,
overcome a familiar issue with dump trucks.
The factory-mounted back-of-cab exhaust
prevents a bodybuilder from moving the
body close enough to the cab to evenly
distribute the weight. Currently the
production line at Macungie is not set
up to accommodate mounting the exhaust
under the frame. But NVOC can.
The installation will cut delivery time
from factory to customer, and it won’t
disrupt the assembly line.
BIG STORY
Simple and Fast
Nowhere is this customized approach
to manufacturing more visible than at
NVOC1. In an area off the production
line at Macungie Assembly Operations
near Allentown, Pa., Sherbrick points to
the front of a TerraPro™ with a hole the
size of a microwave in the grill. Inside the
hole the radiator gleams like a new coin.
“Waste haulers will put a driveshaft
through the middle of the radiator
and run their hydraulics off it. But the
spinning flywheel will throw grease onto
the radiator and degrade its ability to cool
the engine. “Now look at this,” he says,
walking around the driver’s side and
pointing deep within the chassis. There,
painted bright red, a 3-feet-long cylindrical
PTO sits next to the transmission. “We’ve
installed a direct connection off the
transmission, which means the customer
can make a direct connection off the
PTO. It allows the bodybuilder to run
all of the hydraulics for the body without
having to route hydraulic lines all the way
to the front of the truck. You now have
increased cooling capacity, without all of the
hoses hanging off the front of the vehicle.”
“
So is time to market. “We’re
faster and more nimble than assembly
operations. We have an extremely
aggressive schedule to gain new market
share. To do that you have to be quick in
getting new product to market.”
You also have to know what you’re
doing, and customers like Cowher say that
with 35 years of experience, Sherbrick does.
That deep knowledge has enabled him
to meet the needs of everyone from the
owner of a few trucks to North America’s
largest fleets.
Preparing the Fleet
He’s not alone. A few miles north the
doors of all 20 bays are open at NVOC2.
Technicians drill diamond-plate headache
racks and install hydraulic lines. They’re
working 10 hours a day, seven days a week
to customize the 50 trucks in the lot.
It’s a typical day for Greg Wentz, the
production supervisor who runs this part
of the operation. A 25-year Mack veteran,
Wentz started as a Class A diesel mechanic
at the Allentown factory branch and
worked his way through Sales Engineering
and the National Accounts Group. Now
That’s their mission: to do what’s
outside the normal production
application, and they do that
quite well. I’m happy.
The result is a cleaner-looking,
more efficient truck that’s ready for the
bodybuilder, straight from the factory,
with all its systems intact.
With the sound of impact wrenches
burring in the background, Sherbrick
says the center’s goal is to make sure the
customer doesn’t have to ship his truck
to multiple vendors to get the options he
needs. “Some dealers have the capacity
to do this but the advantage to having
us do it is the customer is covered under
the Mack warranty. If there is an issue we
have a network to get it resolved. That’s a
big selling point.”
6 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
”
– Dave Adams
President and CEO of Putzmeister America
he and his team help customize the vehicles
of some of the nation’s biggest fleets.
“We do customer-requested
modification, anything from pre-delivery
inspection to setting customer-specific
parameters in the electronic systems,”
Wentz says. This sometimes means
working on several hundred trucks for an
individual fleet with a big order. “Larger
fleets do this so they get a consistent
look and build… (such as) pre-delivery
inspections and decaling. We check the
operation of all gauges, lights, switches;
check fluid levels and tire pressure. A lot is
done at the factory but this is a final check
This Titan by Mack helps transport a massive
nuclear reactor for Perkins Specialized Transportation,
with the assistance of Mod Center enhancements.
because many of the customers’ trucks will
go directly from here to their final location
and not through a Mack dealer. So it’s got
to be right.”
Engineered Together
Tightly integrated engineering is the
biggest draw for Dave Adams, president
and CEO of Putzmeister America, part of
the Putzmeister Group, the world’s largest
producer of concrete pumps. (To give you
an idea of Putzmeister’s global reach, its
pumps have been pouring water on the
damaged reactors at Japan’s Fukushima
nuclear power plant for months.) Since
domestic pumps are mounted on Mack’s
TerraPro chassis, NVOC engineers work
closely with Putzmeister to ensure the
product is right for each customer.
“Because regulations vary from state
to state, province to province, we find that
the chassis has to be modified to meet
local requirements,” Adams says. “We’re
always battling to get the right wheelbase
or satisfy a tight turning radius. There’s no
way we could perform the modifications
to the chassis like the Option Center can.
Otherwise we’d have to engage a third
party to modify the trucks. We’d prefer to
have the Mack factory prepare the chassis
so once it gets here we can immediately
mount our unit on it.”
Coordination is critical, since some
of Putzmeister’s pumps are huge — they
can weigh more than 100,000 pounds and
extend more than 227 feet “Once the unit
is installed the truck and the pump become
a highly integrated machine,” Adams says.
“We use the engine to drive the pump. As a
consequence we want to do the engineering
of our pump and the truck together.”
He believes the value of the Mod
Center lies in that tight integration.
“That’s their mission: to do what’s outside
the normal production application, and
they do that quite well. I’m happy.”
Bigger is Better
For Dave Wright, the general
manager of the concrete pump division of
SANY America, the Mod Center allows his
company to build bigger and more complex
products. That gives SANY the ability to
compete in a global market.
“NVOC just built a prototype for us —
a seven-axle truck, three axles that steer
in front and four that steer in the rear.
They’ve maximized the size of the pump
body that can be mounted — it weighs in
excess of 120,000 pounds and has a boom
with a 60-meter [197-feet] vertical reach.
They’ve created a platform that allows us
to design bigger pump bodies and meet
permitting regulations. That’s what makes
the Mod Center so valuable, the willingness
to produce these specialty trucks that aren’t
produced in extremely high volume.”
Wright can build that platform on a
standard TerraPro chassis without having
to outsource complex work to multiple
vendors. “The Mod Center will produce a
truck that is 100 percent ready to go. The
wheelbase, the fuel tanks, the air tanks
are located where we need them. We
can just plug our wiring harness into the
Mack controller. We’re getting full factory
support for the truck. It’s streamlining
our operation.”
That brings innovation to SANY’s
products and makes them more attractive
to its customers. “We’re pushing the
envelope. The Mod Center is a very
important partner, not only to SANY but
to the industry.”
Seizing Opportunity
Mack dealer Bob Nuss recognizes
an opportunity when he sees one. The
president of the Nuss Group was looking
for a chance to sell into the heavy haul
market. The introduction of Titan by Mack
gave him that chance.
“We knew we had an opportunity
with Perkins Specialized Transportation,”
another Minnesota company, he says.
“In order to get into extreme heavy
hauling we had to make changes to the
chassis that we could not do on the
assembly line. The Mod Center’s engineers
visited the customer and engineered the
options that were required. They customized
a front frame extension that allows Perkins
to push or pull a load.” Perkins is using
several tractors to push and pull 1.5 million
pounds of decommissioned nuclear
generators up 7 percent grades from
California to Utah.
Nuss is expecting widespread media
coverage of the haul and doesn’t mind
sharing the spotlight with NVOC.
“I was excited when Mack put in the
Option Center because it gives dealers
and customers a way to get some things
done that aren’t necessarily worth the
cost of doing a one-time engineering
project for one or two trucks. This gives
us a bridge to get some unique business.
They definitely add value.”
Joe Cambria Jr. agrees. The vice
president of Cambria Mack Distributors
in Edison, N.J. says his dealership could
do some of the work but finds NVOC
the best partner for complex operations.
“Take roofing trucks. You may
be doing knuckle booms, stick cranes,
conveyors. The customer would have to
send the trucks to separate installers. If
you’re a fleet manager you want consistency,
accountability and familiarity. When
putting complex pieces of machinery
together, if I can have the NVOC do the
lift axle and the PTO and the pump, all
the body company has to do is mount the
body and hook up. We have a final product
that will serve the customer better.”
That makes NVOC a tool for selling
as well as manufacturing. “Let’s say I’m
quoting boom trucks. Now I’m going to
one source to get a quick and accurate
turnaround. It cuts my selling time.
Accountability is a big issue, too. If the
Mod Center tells you they’re going to do
something they do it. If there’s an issue
in the field, the truck doesn’t have to go
back to the body shop. It can go to any
dealer. Without the Mod Center’s help it
would be harder to obtain these deals and
deliver customer satisfaction.”
Caring for the Customer
Dan Cowher’s still amazed at the
way the Mod Center worked with a
vendor to install a new type of system
on his trucks. In a time when companies
don’t always work together NVOC got
the job done. That kind of commitment
adds value to his business.
“I’m very grateful for the relationship
that Veolia has with Vic and the
Mod Center,” Cowher says. “I enjoy
people who have the knowledge, expertise
and the passion for the work and the
customer. It’s rare today to find people
who really care.”
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 7
FEATURES
Alpine Waste Sustains Business with CNG TerraPro
John Griffith is sustaining a business
as well as the environment. Which is why
the president of Alpine Waste & Recycling
is converting his entire fleet of 50 collection
vehicles to Mack® TerraPro models that
run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
Based in the Denver suburb of
Commerce City, Alpine has been buying
CNG trucks since 2009, saving money
and winning praise from environmentalists
and mechanics alike. Now the company
is taking the next step: converting the
entire fleet to CNG and partnering with
California-Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which
has built a 26-pump onsite fueling station.
Alpine is the largest privately held
commercial waste and recycling collection
company in the Denver area, hauling
more than 130,000 tons of waste each
year and recycling or composting a good
portion of that.
“The more committed that we
become to natural gas, the more clearly
we have seen its benefits,” Griffith said.
“Alpine’s natural gas trucks burn fuel more
cleanly and more quietly. It’s a domestic
fuel — 98 percent of the natural gas
America uses is generated in this country.
Not everybody buys into the concept of
sustainability but everybody understands
the need for energy independence.”
At Alpine that strategy has meant a
more sustainable business.
“CNG trucks cost about 20 percent
more initially than conventional diesel
trucks but they’re saving us about $1,200
per truck per month, and we intend to
run each truck for 10 years,” said Shannon
Smith, Alpine’s general manager in charge
of fleet operations. “You have other
savings, too. The engines run cleaner.
They can go longer between services.”
The filling station will save $140,000
a year in labor costs alone, since trucks can
refuel overnight without human monitoring.
In addition to fuel savings, Smith
said he’s impressed with the performance
of Mack’s equipment and dealer,
Colorado Mack Sales & Service. “The
trucks develop about 95 percent of the
horsepower a diesel would. They work
fine at higher altitudes — we’re more than
5,280 feet above sea level. They pull the
weight on the hills.”
He sees Mack as a partner in
sustaining the business as well as the
environment.
“Mack understands the direction
we’re going. They stick to their build dates
and honor their commitments. We’ll
continue to order CNG trucks.”
™
Mack Collectors
Find Big Reward
in Small Trucks
Vince Scalera is touring the new
Mack Customer Center with his
granddaughter, Mia Franco. She wants to
ride the Bulldog. He wants to see the big
versions of the models he’s been collecting
since he was 10.
“It was a short visit,” Scalera says.
“You can only impress an 18-month-old
for so long.”
It’s a small world after all. At least for
fans of Mack trucks who are passionate
about collecting miniature versions of the
big rigs.
And Scalera is a fan. The Middlesex,
N.J. resident has created a mini version
of the Mack Customer Center with more
than 600 pieces of equipment — toy trucks
and Mack souvenirs that fill the house and
make his wife question his obsession.
“I’ve always liked Mack trucks,” he
says. “My grandfather had some E model
school buses. The local fire department
had E and L Macks at that time. The
Mack truck made an impression on me
at a very early age.”
Which may account for his choice of
career. Scalera worked for Central Jersey
Mack/Glasofer Mack, now Cambria Mack,
from 1972-1984 as a fire truck mechanic.
Since 1984 he’s worked as a mechanic and
service manager at Fire & Safety Services
in South Plainfield, N.J.
Then there’s Michael Alamorian, who
isn’t content to just collect replicas. He
modifies many of them to represent the
trucks he’s driven.
“I have been a lifelong collector of
diecast and plastic commercial vehicles
and most are 1/34 or 1/32 scale,” says
Alamorian, who lives in Milton, Del., but
worked in New Jersey for most of his life.
“Many are purchased from the Mack Shop
and are customized, or ‘kit bashed,’ to
replicate vehicles I have driven.”
Alamorian buys diecast vehicles and
disassembles, repaints and swaps bodies
Mack Natural
Gas Powered
TerraPro
Leads the Pack
and chassis. He also uses customized resin
parts, such as R700 hoods and F model
cabs, that he either makes or buys from
other collectors.
His collection of 460 models includes
the F700, R700, R600, U600, DM800,
B75, B65 factory sleeper, LTSW sleeper
and multiple MR configurations. “All are
museum quality with details including
fuel permits, apportioned license plates,
dirt, grime and just about any load you
can imagine.”
Those models represent a lifetime of
service, starting in 1977 when he’d line
up in the Teamster hall to compete for
daily work. Since then he’s hauled for a
variety of New Jersey companies, driving
an MB straight truck for P. Saldutti and
Son in Newark and an R600 with his first
Maxidyne® and Maxitorque® configuration
for Ritter Trucking in Rahway. He now
works as an in-plant services manager for
Waste Masters of North East, Md.
Scalera’s working, too — on a return
trip to the Mack Customer Center, a place
where he’s found kindred souls to share
his enthusiasm for the small pleasures in
life. Although domestic life has improved
with age.
“My wife calls them dust collectors
but after 36 years they’ve grown on her.”
MACK SHOP ONLINE
In October of 2010 Mack Trucks,
Inc. introduced a natural gas-powered
version of its versatile TerraPro Cabover
model for the refuse and construction
applications. The model is available with
heavy-duty natural gas engines supplied
by Cummins Westport. The 9-liter
Cummins Westport ISL-G is rated at
320 HP, can use compressed (CNG)
or liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has
a three-way catalyst to meet EPA’10
emissions standards.
“With this new natural gas product,
an industry-leading truck is now coupled
with an alternative fuel option,” said
Curtis Dorwart, Mack vocational
products marketing manager. “Adding
the natural-gas powered engine allows
our customers to be environmental leaders
in their markets and communities.”
Natural gas-powered vehicles are
becoming increasingly popular, particularly
in the refuse market. A growing number
of municipalities mandate alternative fuel
vehicles as a condition of contracts with
refuse haulers. Increasingly, communities
are expecting industries to move in the
direction of energy independence and use
of fuels from renewable sources.
Mack has been a leader in natural
gas vehicle research over the last two
decades. In the early 1990s, the company
participated in a demonstration project
in Washington, Pa. Mack MR models
powered by a natural gas version of the
company’s E7 engine were put into service
at a local landfill, using an onsite natural
gas refueling system. The effort helped
establish the viability of natural gas as a
fuel option for landfill operations.
For more
Mack Trucks
Collectables,
visit mackshop.com
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 9
COMPANY NEWS
Mack at the Movies... the Sequel
Mack® trucks starred in two movies
this summer, both sequels of wildly popular
films that appeal to all generations.
In “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Mack took a major role as Megatron, leader
of the Decepticons, in the DreamWorks
Pictures/Paramount Pictures production.
In this, the third of the Transformers series,
Megatron takes the form of a Mack Granite®
military truck and leads the Decepticons in
an epic battle against the Autobots.
This is the second Transformers movie
to feature Mack trucks. “Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen” included two
Pinnacle™ tractors and a Granite mixer.
“When we were approached for the third
movie, given the nature of the role, we
10 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
immediately agreed with the selection of a
Mack military truck to play the vehicle mode
for Megatron,” said Kevin Flaherty, Mack
senior vice president, U.S. and Canada. “Our
customers, fans and employees are always
excited to see a Mack on the big screen. It also
introduces the brand to an even wider audience.”
Mack also starred in the Disney ® Pixar
hit “Cars 2.” In the new film, star racecar
Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson)
and the incomparable tow truck Mater
(voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) take their
friendship to exciting new places when they
head overseas to compete in the first-ever
World Grand Prix to determine the world’s
fastest car. The character based on a Mack
truck — appropriately named Mack
(voiced by John Ratzenberger) — is
Lightning McQueen’s trusted long-haul driver.
To promote the movie Mack led a tour
that featured life-size models of three of the
film’s main characters — Lightning McQueen,
Mater and, new to “Cars 2,” British super spy
Finn McMissile — each roughly 15 feet long,
seven feet high and weighing between 1,760
and 2,700 pounds.
The first stop — for Mack employees,
dealers, customers, local leaders and their
families — was at the company’s new
160,000-square-foot customer center in
Allentown, Pa.
And what better truck to move the
tour around America than the fuel-efficient
Mack Pinnacle™ model.
COMPANY NEWS
First Pedigree Bulldog Hits Road in Australia
™
The release of Mack Trucks’ 2011
product offering heralds the return of
the premium Mack Pedigree driveline
to Australia.
With a combination of the Mack MP8
engine equipped with selective catalytic
reduction (SCR) emissions control —
known as ClearTech™ in North America —
Mack transmission and Mack axles,
customers can once again run an Elite
100 percent Pedigree Mack driveline. All
Pedigree Macks come with a gold Bulldog
hood ornament.
The first Pedigree vehicle to drive
off the assembly line at Mack’s Wacol,
Brisbane factory was delivered to the
New South Wales Roads and Traffic
Authority (RTA). The vehicle is one of
eight 2011 (Euro 5) Mack Granite models
on order by RTA. The trucks will be used
by RTA’s road-sealing crew, which needed
a range of reverse speeds to determine
aggregate spread rates.
With its six reverse speeds, the
Mack T310 10-speed transmission was the
perfect choice. Coupled with a 435-HP
MP8 engine and heavy-duty Mack S440
axles, the trucks feature the new C150/151
carriers with differential locks. The spec
reflects Mack’s ability to custom-build
application-specific vehicles.
According to Mack general manager
Dean Bestwick, there are exciting times
ahead for Mack. “I am pleased to once
again be producing Pedigree Mack trucks
here in Australia. The Elite drivetrains are
now available for the Granite and Trident
models. Drivers can expect to see many
more gold Bulldogs on our roads in
coming months.”
J.R. Stephens & Co: All
Mack, all the Time
The clients of waste-hauler J.R. Stephens &
Co P/L want a high level of service.
J.R. Stephens expects the same from its
partners. That’s why for the past 37 years
the Australian company has spec’d an
all-Mack product.
“Our first purchase in 1974 was an
R model with a 237-HP engine, 6-speed
gearbox and 44,000-pound-capacity
Camelback™ suspension — a true
workhorse,” said Daryll Stephens, the
managing director. “After working with
the product the company knew that an
all-Mack product was the way to go.
Mack has become a one-stop shop.”
Based in Blackstone, Queensland,
about 23 miles from Brisbane on Australia’s
east coast, the company is now running
38 trucks with the Pedigree package —
Granite, Trident and Super-Liner models
with Mack engines, drivetrains and axles —
and the gold Bulldog on the hood. The
company serves transfer stations, materials
suppliers and companies that need
road-train work.
While Stephens knew the trucks
could handle today’s loads, it was a trip to
the United States that convinced him that
Mack really is a New Breed of company.
“In 2011 I toured the facilities in the
U.S.A., which has reassured us that the
investment Mack has made in its product
will continue with new technologies well
into the future. Mack stands by its product
and customers.”
His dealer experience in Australia
supports that view. “From the moment
you walk in the door you know you are
in Bulldog country with sales people
who know their product and customer
requirements through after-sales service
and parts. That relationship, and the Mack
Pedigree, has allowed us to run a successful
business for nearly 40 years.”
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 11
DEALER FOCUS
Claudia Olea of TEC La Mirada points out features of the Mack ® Pinnacle ™ to
Mack Western Region VP John Thomas during a recent sales competition.
For Dealers, Many Cultures Mean More Sales
Claudia Olea is visiting a small LTL
outfit in the sprawling suburbs of Los Angeles.
She tells the prospect about her dealership,
TEC La Mirada, and her product, the
Mack Pinnacle. She shares a testimonial
about another trucking firm in the
community that has purchased several
Mack models and provides the company’s
phone number.
All in a day’s work for any sales rep
with a Mack dealership. Only in this case
Olea speaks to the prospect in her native
Spanish. She’s also using her deep knowledge
of Latino culture to forge bonds and build
relationships with her prospects.
“If I have a fleet that buys Macks
I put them in the truck and do the
walk-around in Spanish,” says the daughter
of immigrants from Mexico. “They feel
that instant connection with Mack. With
the Hispanic community, trust is a huge
sales pitch. If a customer trusts you he’ll
refer other customers to you.”
It’s a scene that’s repeated across
North America in dozens of languages every
day. It’s also a new way of doing business
that reaches customers not traditionally
served by the trucking industry.
That’s a large and growing audience.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics says
of the more than 3 million drivers and
related workers in 2010, 17.5 percent were
Hispanic and 1.5 percent were Asian. The
percentages are even greater at the ports
of Los Angeles and Long Beach, about
12 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
25 miles from TEC La Mirada. Some
96 percent of the truck drivers there
are Latino, a survey by research firm
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner shows.
Olea, who started leasing trucks
at TEC La Mirada in 2000 and
graduated to new-truck sales, can verify
those figures. Half of the dealership’s
customers are Hispanic, 80 percent for
her customer base.
“If a fleet bought 55 Macks, the
owner would speak English and Spanish.
However the majority of his drivers speak
Spanish and usually they bring the truck
in for service or parts.”
To reach this audience TEC La Mirada
and its sister dealership in nearby Fontana
have hired nearly a dozen sales reps who
speak a number of languages. One rep
hires a translator when dealing with his
Korean customers. Visitors to the websites
of all TEC Equipment dealerships can
view the sites in Spanish with the click
of a button.
“ ”
“We are hiring more sales people who
do speak Spanish,” Olea says. “That will
grow the market share for Mack here.”
Value the Relationship
As one of two major ports of entry
into Canada, Toronto has become the
melting pot of the country. In the years
after World War II Germans, Ukrainians
and Poles emigrated from Europe to what
is now a growing city with more than
5 million people in the Greater Toronto
Area. Later Italians and Portuguese
arrived. The 1980s saw an influx of
Indians from the Punjab region.
As with the dealerships in California,
dealers here find the key to success
lies in building relationships, and they
hire accordingly.
“My grandparents came after the
First World War,” says John Rosinski,
a sales rep at Performance Equipment Ltd.
in Mississauga, Ontario, part of the
Slotegraaf Group of companies. “I went to
Poland to explore my roots after university
and studied Polish at Jagiellonian University
in Krakow. I started working for Mack
in 1979. After the rise of the Solidarity
movement many Poles immigrated to
Canada and started driving trucks. I could
translate into their own language all of the
ins and outs of buying a truck.”
Performance Equipment has a
multi-lingual workforce. Two speak Polish
and one speaks Urdu, the national language
of Pakistan that is used in parts of India.
The sales manager is attempting to hire a
rep who speaks Punjabi.
Mack Trucks Canada runs ads in
several ethnic magazines, such as the
bilingual Polish publication Truck ‘n’
Roll and the Indian monthly Road Today.
Rosinski and other sales reps sponsor
Indian truck shows and “spend Saturday
and Sunday kicking tires.”
The real work comes after the sale.
“It’s all about the relationship between
the customer and our service counter,”
Rosinski says. “We introduce them to
the key staff they’ll be dealing with. If
they’re on their way back to Toronto
we encourage them to call ahead for a
booking. In some cases they’ll call me
and ask if I’ll make an appointment
for them. It shows that we value their
business and want to help them to make
money in trucking.”
It’s all about the
relationship between
the customer and
our service counter
– John Rosinski
sales rep at Performance Equipment Ltd.
Try a Little Tenderness
In the rough-and-tumble world of
the trucking industry you don’t often
hear about sensitivity as a sales tool.
But Graham Prohaska, a sales rep with
Durham Truck & Equipment of Ajax,
Ontario, says cultural awareness is often
more valuable than linguistic skills.
“We’re sensitive to their needs,” he
says of the Asians, Indians, Hispanics
and Eastern Europeans who populate
the greater Toronto area. “We try to be
sensitive to their culture. With Asians we
never use the number four. We stock a
wider color spectrum that appeals to many
cultures. It’s difficult for many of them to
speak on the phone so I try to meet with
everyone in person. You can show them
things, write things down. You can read
DEALER FOCUS
an expression or tone even if you can’t
fully understand the language.”
Prohaska is even sensitive about the
meeting place, especially with prospective
customers from the Punjab. “We meet
them at different places and at different
hours. It’s not like being called by a
construction company that wants you
to come to their office. They may
want to meet at a Tim Hortons [a
Canadian casual restaurant known for
its coffee and doughnuts]. That’s where
they’re comfortable.”
Investing in the Future
Back at La Mirada Claudia Olea
is conducting an orientation for
owner-operators about replacing older
diesel engines with new power plants
that meet emissions requirements. All
of the owners speak Spanish. “I have six
guys who think they’re going to repower
their units so their trucks won’t be banned
by the Port of Los Angeles. I have to sell
them on the idea that they’re not going
to have any long-term issues if they buy
a new truck. I tell them once you drive a
Mack you’ll never go back. You’re going
to keep it forever.”
That’s something people of any
culture can understand.
John Rosinski, left, of Performance Equipment Ltd. describes the
benefits of the Mack SCR system to Joe Melo of Rumble Foundations,
who emigrated from Portugal to Canada.
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 13
DEALER FOCUS
Mack Drives Champions at Arkansas Event
Mack had a big presence at this year’s
Arkansas Truck Driving Championship.
Shipley Motor Equipment Co. of Lowell,
Ark. sponsored the event and provided
trucks for the contest.
“The feedback from the drivers was
outstanding concerning the Rawhide™
models that were used in the flatbed and
hopper bottom event,” said David A. Bass,
vice president of Shipley Motor Equipment.
“ABF as well as Fed-Ex also used Macks
in the van and double trailer event. All in
all Mack had great representation at the
championship this year.”
The 2011 championship was held
June 24-25 in Rogers, Ark. The competition
consisted of a written test, pre-trip inspection
and driving skills test. Drivers competed
in several classes including straight truck,
tank truck, three-axle tractor-semitrailer,
flatbed, four-axle tractor-semitrailer,
twin trailers, five-axle tractor-semitrailer,
step van and five-axle sleeper berth
tractor-semitrailer.
The Arkansas Trucking Association
sponsors a championship event every year
for truck technicians as well as drivers.
The main event is in its eighth year and
was established to promote safety in the
trucking industry. Not only are some of
the major players such as Walmart, Fed-Ex,
Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, ABF, CalArk,
Maverick Transportation and McKee Foods
involved but the Arkansas State Police play
a big part in the championship.
“Most of America’s products are delivered
by truck and Arkansas is the heart of America’s
trucking industry,” Bass said. “More than
84,000 people in Arkansas are employed
by trucking companies and distribution
companies; that’s more than 1 in 13 people
in the private sector workforce.”
Mack Trucks Polishes off Three Wins in Ontario
Mack Trucks had a busy summer in
Ontario. Mid-Ontario Truck Centre in
Barrie delivered a trio of bulked-up models
that run as good as they look.
The dealership broke new ground when
it sold Andy Houghton of Barrie Rent-All Inc.
the first Mack in his fleet. The black Granite®
has a 325-HP MP7 engine with an Allison®
transmission, 20,000-pound-capacity
front axle and 40,000-pound-capacity
rear axle on an air-ride suspension. It
sports a 24-foot tilt-and-load equipment
roll-off body. Barrie Rent-All specializes
in the rental of construction equipment
and lawn and garden tools.
The next sale went to a Mack veteran,
Rob Robinson of Robinson Quarry in
Kilworthy. The blue Granite is outfitted with
a 405 HP MP7 engine, 20,000-pound-capacity
14 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
front axle and 46,000-pound-capacity
rear axle on an air-ride suspension. The
rig sports a 20-foot hook-lift pallet and
interchangeable 16-foot dump body.
Robinson spec’d the truck for maximum
versatility in quarrying, blasting and
construction projects.
The third win came in the heavy-haul
area to another Mack veteran. Carl Young of
Robert Young Construction in Peterborough,
who has been running Macks for 45 years,
purchased a 2012 Granite model with a
505-HP MP8 engine, 18-speed transmission,
52,000-pound-capacity Mack rear axle with
Camelback™ suspension and a 20,000-poundcapacity pusher axle to hook the company’s
largest and heaviest crushing equipment.
“They used to purchase CL733 tractors
with 500-HP Cummins® ISX engines but
this time they went all-Mack,” Peter Calaguiro
said of a company involved in crushing and
hauling aggregate as well as building roads.
“The driver is very pleased with the truck
and supposedly spent 14 hours polishing
the fuel tanks to a mirror finish.”
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VISIT MACKGRANITE.COM TO LEARN MORE
©2011 Mack Trucks, Inc. All rights reserved.
Need to Find a Mack Dealer?
There’s an App for That
FLEET SPOTLIGHT
Good Equipment, Reliable Service Work Together
When PITT OHIO says the freight
will be there, the company delivers. That’s
because the owner of the fleet expects
reliability from his employees and the
employees expect it from their supplier,
Mack Trucks, Inc.
“Quality of product and reliability”
is the way director of maintenance
Denny Martin describes how the
Pittsburgh-based hauler has expanded a
successful LTL business into a supply
chain solutions company serving the
mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.
“The driver is one part of the equation
and the truck is the other,” he says. “The
truck has to safely and reliably deliver
freight and Mack does that time and time
again.” That’s why the company, which
changed its name from Pitt Ohio Express
in early 2011, is buying Mack® Pinnacle™
models by the truckload. PITT OHIO
purchased 20 Pinnacle day cab tractors in
2010 and is in the process of taking delivery
of an additional 110 units through its Mack
dealer, TransEdge in Pittsburgh.
New equipment orders feed a constant
need to maintain and build the company’s
reputation, as well as its fleet. PITT OHIO
employs 2,800 people in 21 terminals.
16 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
It fields 1,755 trailers, 665 tractors, roughly
half of which are Mack, and 353 straight
trucks. Those rigs deliver 10,200 shipments
to more than 14,000 destinations each day,
with a 98 percent on-time delivery record.
Jack Frischkorn, director of purchasing,
says PITT OHIO’s reputation is recognized
throughout the industry. “Customers tell
us, ‘You guys do what you say you’re going
to do. When you say you’re going to have it
there at 10 a.m. you have it there at 10 a.m.’”
Martin attributes that success to
company owner Chuck Hammel III, whose
grandfather got the family started in the
trucking business with a horse and wagon in
1919. “Chuck truly cares about the employees
and he sets high expectations for all of us. You
definitely don’t want to let the owner down.”
Mack doesn’t want to disappoint the
owner, either, but changes in environmental
regulations could have jeopardized its customer
relations. PITT OHIO was understandably
wary of any new vehicle from any manufacturer,
given the issues many fleets had with
previous pollution-control equipment.
“The EPA’07 trucks from all of the
manufacturers we tested were just terrible
in terms of fuel economy and reliability,”
Martin says. “Knowing that the technology
would be different, we waited to make any
purchases until the EPA’10 trucks were
released. We tested the Mack line with SCR
and it performed so well in comparison to
the EPA’07 trucks that we knew that Mack
had come up with a reliable truck. Our
experience with the Mack ClearTech™ SCR
system has been good. The drivers love the
way the trucks pull and are impressed by
their responsiveness. Most importantly,
the trucks have the best fuel economy
we’ve seen since 2004 emission standards
were implemented.”
What also sold PITT OHIO was the
commitment of Mack and TransEdge to
their customers. “There was a period of
time when we went away from the Mack
line,” Martin says. “However, we still
owned a great deal of Mack equipment and
through that period Mack showed up to
support their product. They never looked
at a one-time buy; they looked at the long
term. They continued to stand behind
the Mack trucks we had in our fleet. We
are super-impressed with the way Mack
handled themselves. Mack’s commitment
and confidence in their product, from the
factory to the dealership, was key in our
decision-making.”
FLEET SPOTLIGHT
Expecting Success at Powell Stone & Gravel
Customers expect reliability from
Powell Stone & Gravel. The Massachusetts
company expects it from everyone else.
It gets it from Mack.
“We’re working on the new Tewksbury
Memorial High School in Tewksbury, Mass.,”
said Steve Powell, the vice president who
runs the Lunenburg-based company with
his brother Jeff. “We’re importing 50,000
yards of structural fill and gravel, doing
3,000-3,500 tons of material a day. A lot
of guys would have to outsource that.
We have our own trucks and materials.
We’re not counting on someone else to
process and move the material. That way
we can meet scheduling gradation and
compaction guidelines.”
The company has taken other steps
to control its fate. It has diversified into
residential as well as commercial excavation,
taken on jobs of all sizes and rigorously
managed maintenance costs.
Owning late-model equipment is
another way Powell has built its reputation
for reliability. Founded in 1969 by Steve
and Jeff ’s father Ray, the business has
grown to 80 employees, 35 trucks and
100 pieces of equipment in three companies,
Powell Stone & Gravel, R.A. Powell
Construction Corp. and Rip-It-Up Rentals.
The days of
working with one
guy, a backhoe
and a truck are
long gone. Powell
recently purchased
eight Mack Granite®
tri-axle dump trucks
and two axle-forward
Pinnacle™ tractors.
All of the 2012
models are equipped
with 425-HP MP8
engines and Mack’s
ClearTech™ SCR system.
Th at’s made a difference in the
fleet’s reliability.
“We hadn’t bought trucks in a couple
years due to emissions requirements and the
economy slowing,” Steve Powell said. “We
kept putting band-aids on the trucks. They
had anywhere from 500,000-700,000 miles
on them.”
The brothers knew that to maintain
their reputation they had to upgrade their
fleet. They tried other brands but in the
end returned to Mack for the technology
and the service.
“SCR hasn’t been an issue at all. Not
one truck has had to pull over and do
a regen. And the urea is like putting in
windshield washer fluid.”
He feels good about the fuel
economy, too.
“We’re getting 5.8 mpg in the
new trucks. We were down to 4 mpg or
4.5 mpg on the older ones.”
He also likes the service from
Greg Day of Ballard Mack. “He’s
excellent. I can’t tell you how many
times he’s come in here to say ‘I’m not
here to sell you something, I’m just here
to say hi.’”
Service like that enables Powell to
demonstrate its reliability to customers.
“We’ve never missed a deadline.”
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 17
FROM THE ROAD
‘Little Truck that Could’ Played Big Role on 9/11
By Tripp
Laino
The adage that “bigger is better” is
often repeated, especially in America,
but on September 11, 2001, fire crews
battling the blaze at the Pentagon needed
something smaller.
Enter the Woodsboro, Md. Volunteer Fire
Department, and its then-chief, Micky Fyock.
He and the company’s 1955 B-Model
Mack® truck with a 65-foot ladder, which
Fyock later dubbed “the little truck that
could,” were an integral part of fighting
the fires that day. Because the vehicle has
no roof, it sits lower than other fire trucks,
which would allow it to enter the narrow
Pentagon tunnels. Incident command at
the Pentagon found out about the truck in
Woodsboro and requested assistance, but
even Fyock doesn’t know how they knew
of the truck.
The day had started off like any other
for Fyock, now 59, who is an employee
at Frederick County’s Department of
Emergency Communications Center.
Though calls poured in throughout the
day, Fyock didn’t expect to be directly
involved in rescue efforts, even though he was
also a volunteer firefighter with the Woodsboro
Volunteer Fire Rescue Company.
Fyock left the communications center
at 6 p.m. to head to the fire company.
Shortly after arriving home, Fyock received
a call from the communications center,
asking him to take a truck to help battle
the fire at the Pentagon.
“I got home, and I got a telephone
call,” he said. “The first thing I thought
was ‘Oh, you guys are messing with me.’
They called me and said the Pentagon
needs a ladder truck that is under 10 [feet]
tall that can reach down into the inner
circle to help protect the Pentagon. They
said ‘will you take a crew and go?’ And I
said ‘absolutely.’”
Four other volunteers arrived at the
Woodsboro station, and Fyock and the crew
headed down to the Pentagon in the ladder
truck and a second non-firefighting vehicle,
because the truck only held two people.
18 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
“I said to the boys, ‘I have no idea
what we’re going to get into going down
the road,’” he said. “We had all seen the
pictures and stuff on the TV, but if our
country needs us, we’re on the way. It
doesn’t matter if we have to tow this thing
back on a rollback, and we come back in
a hearse, we’re heading down. Because
there were thousands of people wanting
to go, and here’s this little fire company in
Frederick County that got asked to go.”
The crew headed to the Pentagon —
slowly.
Fyock said the truck only went about
55 mph. But despite the slower speeds,
travel was easy as the road south was
almost empty. “I have never in my life,
ever seen no traffic,” he said. “We went
from here all the way to the Pentagon, and
hardly saw any traffic. I think we saw one
tractor-trailer.”
Eventually, the crew made its way to
the Pentagon, and drove through access
tunnels to the building’s courtyard, where
it would fight the fire from the opposite
side of where the plane hit.
“We arrived there at night,” Fyock
said. “It was dark, but it was lit up… It
was quiet. It was nothing like I thought it
would be. I thought it would be hustle and
bustle, running around, but it was nothing
like I expected when I got there. I expected
the military standing out there, and guards
standing out there, and so forth.”
Fyock’s crew was instructed to follow
a hose that had been laid into the building,
and laid down a wall of water overnight to
prevent the fire from spreading any further
and causing more damage. The crew
worked all through the night and into the
following morning, helping to keep the fire
from spreading. As the sun came up, Fyock
said he saw an image that lifted his spirits.
“I remember that morning, and
we had the water flowing, and the sun
had come up, we had the American flag
out there on the end,” Fyock said. “And
because of the water, it created a rainbow.
And the rainbow shot right out across
there. Take the 9/11 scene out of it, and
you couldn’t have wanted a more beautiful
morning. I looked up there, and I saw that
American flag, and I saw that rainbow
across there, and I said ‘We’re going to be
all right. No matter what’s going to be said
on the outside, we’re going to be all right.’”
The crew battled the fire until the
afternoon of September 12, finally arriving
Kyd Dieterich with the ‘little truck that could’ in the background.
WELCOME TO THE PACK
back home around 4 p.m. But Fyock
didn’t get to rest yet; he had to report
for duty at the emergency center at
6 p.m. “I went home, took a shower,
and went right back to work,” he said,
with a chuckle.
The truck retired later that year,
replaced by a more modern piece of
equipment. Kyd Dieterich, the fire chief
for the Hagerstown Fire Department,
now owns the “little truck that could,”
which is part of his three fire truck fleet.
He said he bought the truck in late
2001, after it was no longer needed in
Woodsboro, and declined to say what
he paid for it.
“They decided they were going
to sell the truck because a squad truck
came in,” he said. “It eliminated the
need for them to have this truck
anymore. They had it advertised for sale,
but I don’t think they got an offer near
what they wanted for it. They asked if I
knew anyone that would be interested.
I made them an offer and they took it.”
Fyock called the decision to sell the
truck “tearful,” but said it was necessary
to sell the truck because of its age and
the need for safer equipment to serve
the Woodsboro community.
“There were a lot of tears that
day,” Fyock said. “Because of its age
and keeping up with the modern safety
standards, the expense to keep it up
would have been tremendous.”
The truck has made several
appearances in Woodsboro since the
sale, including several parades. It was
also used in November 2008 for the
funeral services for Robert Compton,
one of the five firemen who battled the
fire in the Pentagon.
Reprinted with permission –
The Gazette/Frederick (Md.), Sept. 8, 2011
Copyright © 2011 The Gazette
Phil Olson, left, delivers four 2012 Mack ® Pinnacle ™ models to Dick Sleefluth, center,
owner of Badger State Western. On the right is Sam Scaffidi, owner of Scaffidi Truck Center,
the delivering dealership.
One Good Sale
Deserves Another
It’s hard to tell who’s happier about
Mack making its first sale to Badger State
Western — the sales rep or the owner.
“We are excited about this sale
because this is a very visible, non-typical
Mack buyer,” said Phil Olson, who just
delivered four 2012 Mack Pinnacle™
models to the firm. “We know this
will have a huge ripple effect in our
area and hopefully can help the whole
Mack family.”
Three of the vehicles are company
trucks and the fourth was purchased by
an owner-operator. “The owner-operator
has had his truck three weeks and just
loves the power, fuel mileage and the ride
. . . and the mDRIVE,™” said Olson, the
sales manager with Scaffidi Commercial
Trucks in Stevens Point-Tomahawk, Wis.
Mack’s mDRIVE is a 12-speed, two-pedal
automated manual transmission that
optimizes fuel economy, driver comfort
and the life of the driveline.
Based in Abbotsford, Wis., Badger
State Western fields a fleet of 25 company
trucks and 75 owner-operator rigs. The
company hauls refrigerated freight from
the Midwest to the West Coast. Owned by
Dick Seefluth it has been in business for
35 years. These are the first Mack trucks
the company or any of its owner-operators
have purchased.
The 70-inch high-rise sleepers feature
505-HP MP8 engines, 40,000-poundcapacity MaxLite™ suspensions and
12,000-pound-capacity front axles.
Three models sport mDRIVE transmissions
and one a 13-speed Mack transmission
with a 3:42 ratio. All come with grand
touring interior trim and a full fairing
package that meets the EPA’s SmartWay®
certification standards. Scaffidi Truck Center
added a chrome and stainless steel package
consisting of engraved Mack kick plates,
hub caps and nut covers.
While the drivers are still breaking in
the trucks, the company reports impressive
fuel mileage, with 7.4 mpg to 8 mpg for
the mDRIVE models and 6.8 mpg for
the 13-speed. “Most of their competing
models are around 5.5 mpg, so Dick is
happy so far,” Olson said.
With that conquest Olson is gearing
up for his next big challenge. “I have
responsibility for three very large fleets that
have never purchased Mack and a fourth
that hasn’t for more than 10 years. Now I
have only have three to go.”
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 19
FROM THE VAULT
MACK CALLED TO SERVE
While Men Fought, Women Worked the Factory
During World War II, Mack issued
its own call to arms. With 15 million
Americans working for the military,
manufacturers needed able bodies to
replace the male workers the industry had
traditionally hired. Women played a huge
role in the manufacture of war material.
Two million worked in war industries, and
Mack employed many of them among its
peak workforce of 4,800.
They served as stock handlers, plant
inspectors and gear hobbers. They operated
drill presses and turret lathes. By 1944
Mack began publishing their photos under
the heading “Mack Women at Work.” But
the changes the women and a wartime
economy wrought started much earlier.
Women played a big role in manufacturing trucks during World War II. A woman assists a v-break
operator in forming sheet metal parts in Plant 4 while others prepare tire rims for spray painting in
the Plant 13, where military trucks were assembled.
The March to War
Throughout 1938 Bulldog magazine
ran articles on the usual commercial
subjects: breweries, trade shows and a
perennial favorite — the first vehicles
the founders of Mack ever produced.
By 1939, the Mack plant in Allentown,
Pa., began producing its own version of
Bulldog magazine. Each issue contained
news about visitors, safety and team
standings in the Mack Bowling League.
They featured photos of workers and
their families under headings like “Mack
Men at Work” and “Mack-ettes,” the
women in engineering, purchasing and
other departments.
With the U.S. entry into
World War II in 1941, the stories and
the treatment of women became more
serious. After recapping the facts, the
editorial in the January 1942 issue of the
Allentown Mack Bulldog made plain the
company’s new mission: “This war will
be won or lost on the assembly lines of
American industry.”
20 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
FROM THE VAULT
Trucks for Troops
Until America declared war, Mack
produced E and L Series commercial
models along with fire trucks. In 1938 it
began production of a limited number of
vehicles for the armed force, including
368 specially designed 6-wheelers with
4-wheel drive. Another specialty truck,
the Mack EES, was used by almost all
branches of the armed forces to haul earth,
sand, gravel and coal.
In 1940 Mack built its first militaryspecific truck, the EXBX, an 18-ton 6x4
used by the British army to transport tanks.
After 1941 the U.S. government
suspended civilian production at Mack.
The first vehicle to roll off the assembly
line was the 10-ton NR-1 cargo truck.
The company shipped 510 EH models to
Britain under the Lend-Lease program
and produced the 7.5-ton NO-1 prime
mover to haul 240-mm howitzers.
Mack assembled the vehicles in
Allentown, Pa. at a massive facility called
5C. The government eventually built a
submarine torpedo bomber called the
Vultee there.
A Massive Effort
By the end of World War II Mack
had produced more than 35,000 prime
movers, personnel carriers, wrecker
trucks and tank transporters. The list
included 4,600 tank powertrains.
The battle in the Pacific ended
on August 15, 1945. In its concluding
editorial of the war the Allentown
Mack Bulldog made this prediction:
“Mack should contribute greatly
toward the nation’s goal of a strong
peacetime economy. . . ”
They were right.
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 21
DOG BITES
From Portugal to Canada,
One Truck at a Time
For Marco Estanqueiro, Mack is an
international brand . . . and an old friend.
In the 1960s as a young man he arrived
in Paris, France from his home in Porto,
Portugal and found work as a truck driver
for a company contracted to build runways
for the new Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The first truck he operated was a
two-stick Mack® B-61 dump truck with
no power steering and not much for brakes.
Needless to say, Estanqueiro learned how
to downshift a two-stick transmission in
a hurry. After a few months of proving
his truck-driving abilities he was given
a newer R487S Mack and continued
operating it for a few years. In the early
1970s he immigrated to Canada and
founded his company, Arizon Disposal.
The first Mack models he acquired in
Toronto were used roll-off trucks. As his
business prospered
he finally was in the
position to buy new
Mack models. In
Canadian émigré Marco Estanqueiro with the
1988 Dave McKenna
1958 Mack B61 model he restored.
of Toronto Mack sold
him three new 1988
DM686S roll-off trucks, one of which
Newfoundland as a single-axle tractor with
he still has on the road with the original,
an owner-operator looking for work. He
never rebuilt engine at more than 2 million
was unsuccessful and the truck was sold
kilometers and the original driver, who
to a used truck dealer. When Estanqueiro
refuses to drive a newer model.
discovered the truck he leaped at the chance
Arizon Disposal operates 14 Mack
to buy it. A new battery was all that was
roll-off trucks and has never purchased a
required and the truck promptly started for
new truck other than a Mack. Estanqueiro’s
the first time in 10 years. The now restored
wife Maria and their sons are active in
truck runs well and Estanqueiro uses it from
the business.
time to time. The B-61 has its own display
The 1958 Mack B-61 truck restored
pad in front of his facility and occupies a
by Estanqueiro has an interesting history.
special place in Estanqueiro’s heart . . . and
The truck came to Toronto in 1990 from
those of Mack fans everywhere.
LETTERS
Runs like a Bulldog
Dear Editor,
This is the 1999 400-HP 8-speed RB Mack
(shown below) I drive daily for my job
delivering stone products for Kohlhepp Stone
Center in Julian, Pa. I can haul 30 ton but I am
only allowed to haul 24. It has 325,195 miles
on her and still runs like a Bulldog.
No Sunset for this Driver
Dear Editor,
I am writing to you because my husband
Douglas is an amazing man to me and our
family as well as anyone else he comes into
contact with. A few years ago after recovering
from several neck surgeries he returned to
driving and they put him in a Mack. In the
surgeries they had to use three plates and
12 screws and at one point told him that he
would be disabled and would never work again.
I told him that wasn’t what God had to
say about that, so by faith we started believing
the impossible and now my husband works
every day.
During this time of waiting at home, so
that he wouldn’t get discouraged I handed him
a camera. He replied, “I can’t take pictures!”
I laughed and told him I didn’t want him to
take pictures, I wanted him to go outside and
22 | 2011 V4 | BULLDOG
capture on the camera all of the beautiful
things that God showed him and share them
with me. He began going outside daily and
doing just that. Then one man saw gold in my
husband and hired him immediately.
One day in West Virginia while he was
delivering feed in the Mack a farmer stopped
him as he was setting up. The farmer was
frustrated about how to take pictures with his
cell phone. My husband stopped what he was
doing to teach the farmer how to use his phone
to capture pictures. Using his own phone my
husband showed him what to do and captured
the most amazing shot over the hood of the
Mack. Everyone that sees it loves it.
Teresa Deal
Walnut Cover, North Carolina
Chuck Christine
Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania
Letters and Pictures
Send letters and pictures to Jim McNamara,
Bulldog Editor, Mack Trucks, Inc.
7900 National Service Road
Greensboro, NC 27409
or e-mail [email protected]
Letters may be edited due to space
constraints. To help us verify information,
please include phone number.
PHOTO OP
Transforming Experience
Vehicles from all over Southwestern
Pennsylvania attended the fourth annual
Truck and Equipment Show sponsored by
Watt’s of New Alexandria. Doubling as a
dealer open house, the show attracted more
than 120 vehicles and included a guest
appearance by the Megatron character
from the “Transformers” movie.
BULLDOG | 2011 V4 | 23
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SHOWING THEIR COLORS
Just days before the 9/11 attacks New England
Motor Freight restored this Mack® 1957 B42 model.
To honor the fallen, the company painted the
gasoline-powered truck red, white and blue and
displayed it at the Mack Customer Center. The truck
also makes appearances at parades and trade shows.
Displaying the truck at the MCC are, from left: Tom Winfield, NEMF regional manager; Bob Rambone,
vice president of maintenance, and regional managers Rob Powell and Gary Fitzpatrick.
©2011 Mack Trucks, Inc. All rights reserved. Mack, Mack and the Bulldog design, Built Like A Mack Truck, Bulldog and all other marks contained herein are registered trademarks of Mack Trucks, Inc. and/or
Mack Trucks, Inc. affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.