Mack Trucks‘ new MD Series of medium-duty units are new for 2020, but the Class 6 and 7 market is far from unchartered waters for the company.
Mack exited the medium-duty segment in the early 2000s shortly after the debut of the Mack Freedom – more reborn Renault than Born Ready Mack. The Freedom concluded Mack’s 20-plus year run with its medium-duty Mid-Liner, and shelving the model in 2003 put Mack all-in on Class 8.
Seventeen years later, a shortening length of haul and the endless quest for qualified drivers has pulled Mack back into the medium-duty pool, and they’re jumping in with both feet.
Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks senior vice president of North American sales and marketing, said the company’s dealer network has been pushing for a return to medium duty for years, and market stabilization and growth in the segment created a perfect storm of opportunity.
“It’s traditionally a pretty steady 90,000 to 100,000 trucks in the U.S. and Canada,” he said, noting annual medium-duty sales seldom swing as wildly as Class 8.
Reentry into the segment targets a customer base that includes dry van and refrigerated segments, and stake/flatbed, dump and tank truck vocations – segments that aren’t necessarily into trucking.
“These are P&D folks. These are private fleets. These are people whose core business isn’t necessarily trucking,” he said. “They use trucks to move things, but they’re not trucking companies by trade.”
