MACK Trucks

Mcelroy runs macks.

 

I was going to say the same thing. I personally like the Macks, but the cost is outrageous for one. They ride like a cadillac and have a lot of room inside.

 

If I remember correctly seems like I read somewhere that parts were high for them and hard to get in some areas. Seems like it was out west somewhere where they are not seen as much. Might be why you don't see them as much. I do like macks. They tend to tach lower when you shift about 9 and 13 from the ones that I have been in.

 

Sharkey runs them, a tanker outfit called Highway transport does too.

 

Mack long ago ceded the long distance/classic style market to others and decided to concentrate on vocational and regional trucks. Most companies doing long haul tend to buy other brands that are somewhat cheaper in initial cost. My company buys Macks, but we keep sleepers in road service for 8-9 years, dycabs last longer. If a company is structured financially to depreciate the trucks and swap them out every 3-4 years, then the economics of buying Macks doesn't pencil out. Keep one long term and it pays off well. I know of several daycabs running around that have over 1.5 million miles on the original engine and trans, and we have road tractors over 1 million miles used in daily hauls.

 

Our company has one Mack daycab that I think they got in on as a demo truck in the mid 90's when we needed to upgrade the fleet. They ended up going with Ford and then International at that time, probably due to initial cost, but that thing is still running long after the 1996 Internationals have left the fleet.

 

If it weren't for Volvo wanting to keep the Mack brand name alive, I'm almost certain there would be no more Mack trucks. They are manufactured at the same facility as the Volvos at the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, VA. In fact, as of a few weeks ago, the Macks and the Volvos are assembled on the same production line. I suppose there is enough brand loyality to keep the Macks marketable, especially in the vocational line of construction, and refuse hauling.

There are a lot of sleeper units on the roads, some of them very nice looking.