Mack Trucks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MACK TRUCKS | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of AB Volvo since 2001 |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1902 |
| Headquarters | Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Products | Trucks |
| Revenue |  |
| Website | www.macktrucks.com |
Mack Trucks is one of the world's leading truck-manufacturing companies. It is now a subsidiary of AB Volvo, Volvo Group. The company's headquarters are in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. The company's primary manufacturing facility is located in neighboring Macungie, Pennsylvania.
Mack Trucks is a top producer in the vocational, on-road-vehicle market, Class 8 through Class 13. It is also the most popular manufacturer of heavy-duty off-road trucks in America. On the front of each Mack you will find the company's distinctive logo, a silver-colored bulldog. Mack also produces highway models.
Mack trucks have been sold in 45 countries. The Macungie, Pennsylvania, manufacturing plant, located close to its Allentown headquarters, produces the Mack Granite, RD, RB, CL, LE, DM, and MR models, including the construction and refuse series products. In Dublin, Virginia, the "Vision by Mack" and CH highway models are made at the New River Valley assembly plant. Engines, the Maxitorque ES T300 series transmissions, the TC-15 transfer cases, and rear engine power take-offs are designed and manufactured in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Mack’s right-hand-drive vehicles are produced in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, for worldwide distribution. Assembly for South America is done at Mack de Venezuela C.A., in Caracas, Venezuela. The Venezuela operation is a chassis knock-down (CKD) facility. Components are shipped from the United States to Caracas, and the plant then does final assembly.
In addition to its Macungie manufacturing facility, Mack also has a remanufacturing center in Middletown, Pennsylvania where it takes used parts and refurbishes them for resale/reuse.
"Built like a Mack Truck" has become part of "Americana", slang for something "tough".
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[edit] The Maxidyne
In the early 1960s, Mack Truck's executive vice president of product and engineering, Walter May, developed the Maxidyne high-torque rise engine. The engine was first available in 1968 model year trucks. This was an industry-changing event. The Maxidyne allowed a heavy Class 8 truck to be operated with a 5 speed (Maxitorque) transmission. Previously, heavy trucks were typically equipped with 10 or more gears.
[edit] Mack Trucks timeline
- 1890: John M. Mack gets a job at Fallesen & Berry, a carriage and wagon company in Brooklyn, New York.
- 1893: Mack and his brother, Augustus F. Mack, buy the company John worked for.
- 1894: A third Mack brother, William C. Mack joins his brothers in the company's operations. The Macks try working with steam powered and electric motor cars.
- 1900s: Inspired by Orville and Wilbur Wright, Willis Carrier and Henry Ford's inventions, John Mack has a vision, dreaming about producing heavy duty trucks and engines.
- 1900: The Macks open their first bus manufacturing plant. The Mack bus, ordered by a sightseeing company, is delivered.
- 1902: The Mack Brothers Company established in New York.
- 1904: The company introduces the name Manhattan on its products.
- 1905: Allentown selected as the home of main manufacturing operations, and headquarters. A fourth Mack brother, Joseph Mack, becomes a stockholder. Mack begins to make rail cars and locomotives.
- 1909: A junior model 1-1/2 ton truck is introduced.
- 1910: The Manhattan name changed; from now on, the trucks are known as Mack Trucks. Mack delivers the first motorized hook and ladder firetruck used by the city of Morristown, New Jersey. Charles Mack, a fifth Mack brother, joins the company.
- 1911: The company is sold, but it keeps operating as Mack Trucks.
- 1912: Brothers John and Joseph Mack leave.
- 1914: The Mack ABs are introduced.
- 1916: The Mack ACs are introduced. Ultimately, over 40,000 of these models are sold.
- World War I: Mack delivers over 6,000 trucks, both to the United States and Britain's military. A legend surfaces that British soldiers would call for Mack Bulldogs to be sent when facing adversity.
- 1918: Mack becomes the first manufacturer to apply air cleaners and oil filters to their trucks.
- 1919: The United States Army conducts a trans-continental project using Mack Trucks to study the need for national highway systems.
- 1920: Mack Trucks are the first with power brakes on their trucks.
- 1922: The bulldog is accepted as the company's corporate symbol.
- 1924: Jack Mack dies in a car crash in Weatherly, Pennsylvania.
- 1927: Mack's BJ and BB models built.
- 1932: The Bulldog starts to travel on the hoods of Mack trucks.
- 1933: Mack Trucks helps in the building of many American structures, including the Hoover Dam.
- 1936: The Mack E series introduced. Mack Jr trucks introduced.
- 1938: Mack trucks is the first company to produce its own heavy-duty diesel engines.
- World War II: Mack trucks were used by the military in various capacities, and the company built many heavy-duty trucks to help the allied forces win the day. From 1941 to 1945, the combined armed forces of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Canada took delivery of 35,096 total vehicles. The combat "N Series" (NB, NJU, NM, NO, NR, etc.) accounted for 26,965 of the total. Commercial type vehicles including: trucks, off-highway, fire-trucks, trailers, and buses, accounted for the rest. A total of 2,053 NO models alone were produced from 1940 to 1945. The 6x6 7-yard/2-ton NO was the most important specifically military model, and could be used as a transport or tractor for the 155mm Long Tom field gun. Mack also built over 2600 power trains for tanks. The Allentown bus plant built Vultee naval torpedo bombers. More than 700 NJU (5-to-6 ton 4x4) models were in the hands of the U.S. Army by 1942. In 1939 & 1940 the French and British received several hundred NR4 and EXBU models.
- 1953: The Mack B Model series of trucks is introduced. 127,786 produced through 1965.
- 1955: The D Model low cab forward city delivery truck entered the market. Access to the engine compartment was possible by the Verti-lift cab. The cab lifted straight up hydraulically, guided by a forklift style mast behind the cab. Two styles of D Models were produced, the first styling had a square grille and no dress up trim. It was produced in 1955 and early 1956. The second styling included a styled grille, cab rear corner windows and stylish emblems and trim. The second styling was build from mid 1956 until the end of the D Model in 1958. A total of 832 D Model Mack Trucks were produced from 1955 until 1958.
- 1956: City of Hamilton, Bermuda buys first diesel-power fire truck (B85F).
- 1956: Mack Trucks, Inc. buys Brockway Motor Company. (Brockway ceases in 1977)
- 1959: The first aluminum rivetted construction COE (cab-over-engine) family of trucks is introduced: The G Model which had a short production due to a striking resemblance to the Kenworth COE and Mack having the F Model ready for production. No lawsuit was ever recorded between the two manufacturers. A total of 2181 G Model Mack Trucks were produced from 1959 until 1962.
- 1962: The Second of the COE (cab-over-engine) family of trucks is introduced: The F Model all steel sleeper (FL) or non sleeper (F) is the first of this family of models for Mack. (Kenworth came out with their COE in 1957)
- 1965: Mack releases the Super Pumper System, to be used by the New York City fire department. It would help put out 2,200 fires.
- 1966: The R Model Series introduced, to replace the B Model Series.
- 1966: The RL (for R-Western) model built at Hayward, California until 1981.
- 1966: Mack begins production at its assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The facility closed in 1993.
- 1967: Mack Trucks becomes a part of the Signal Oil and Gas Company. Later that year Signal changes its name to The Signal Companies, Inc.
- 1969: Mack patents the cab air suspension.
- 1970: Mack moves into its new Allentown world headquarters.
- 1975: Macungie plant opens, build the Cruise-Liner series until 1983.
- 1977: Super-Liner introduced, production runs for 15-years until 1993.
- 1978: Introduction of the low-cab-forward urban MC/MR series.
- 1979: Renault buys 10% of Mack Trucks, Inc.
- 1979: Medium-duty model Mid-Liner introduced, built by Renault Véhicules Industriels in France
- 1982: Renault increases ownership stake to 20%, Signal lowers its stake to 10%.
- 1982: Production of the MH Ultra-Liner model begins.
- 1983: Mack Trucks does a 15.7 million share IPO of common stock. Renault increases holdings to 40%, while Signal reduces its stake to 10.3%.
- 1987: Renault reorganizes; Renault Véhicules Industriels buys Renault's Mack shares.
- 1988: Mack introduces the CH series for highway applications.
- 1990: Mack Trucks become a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels
- 1994: Mack introduces the LE (low entry) refuse vehicle.
- 1999: A new premium highway tractor is introduced: the "Vision by Mack".
- 2001: Mack together with Renault Véhicules Industriels becomes part of Volvo AB of Sweden, the parent company Renault S. A. receives a 20% stake in the combined company. (In 2002 Renault Véhicules Industriels changes its name to Renault Trucks.)
- 2001: Medium-duty Freedom series introduced (built by Renault Trucks in France like its predecessor, the Mid-Liner series).
- 2001: Granite series for construction applications introduced.
- 2003: Mack pulls out of the medium-duty market and discontinues the Freedom series.
- 2005: Mack stops producing the DM model, the last Mack that used the R-Model cab, the RB was also discontinued at the beginning of 2005. In some countries the DM is the most popular truck for construction use.
[edit] Fire apparatus products
Mack first produced fire apparatus from 1911 until 1990.[1] Despite the shutdown of production, many apparatus have been refurbished and still serve with various fire departments throughout the world.
Some examples of Mack fire apparatus:
- MR686P aerial trucks
- MR686S 90' Bronto aerial truck
- MR690S 100 aerial truck
- MR688P pumper
- MS Midliner pumper
- CF-611 series cab-forward apparatus
[edit] R/RB, U,RD, DM-Models
Mack started to produce the R and U Model in the early 1960s, for highway use, and the RD and DM Models for construction use. The 4 models featured the same cab, the U and DM had the cab offset to the left, and the early RD and DM had 3-piece steel hoods, and they later had 1-piece hoods, the RD had a new hood and the DM the U hood. In the late 1980s, the R and U Models were discontinued, the RB was introduced, mostly for severe-duty applications, and the hood was slightly modified.
2002 was the last year for the RD, and 2005 for the RB and DM, the DM being the last one to be discontinued, it was the last model to use this cab, and the last model of this family that was produced. As a replacement for the construction models, Mack started to offer the Granite, Granite Bridge-Formula and Granite Axle-back, however, they feature a centered cab, and which is not offset like the DM.
[edit] Trivia
- In the 2006 Pixar/Disney film Cars, the main character's transporter friend is called Mack, and is a Mack truck which resembles a 1985 Superliner.
[edit] Trademark
The company's trademark is the Bulldog. Mack trucks earned this nickname in 1917, during World War I, when the British government purchased the Mack AC model to supply its front lines with troops, food and equipment. British soldiers dubbed the truck the "Bulldog Mack." Its pugnacious, blunt-nosed hood, coupled with its incredible durability, reminded the soldiers of the tenacious qualities of their country's mascot, the British Bulldog.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Cape Cod Fire Department:Mack Fire Apparatus. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
- ^ Mack Trucks, Inc. Company Overview. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
