The military has ordered an additional 135 vehicles from Mack Defense, a subsidiary of Mack Trucks.
The additional vehicles are part of a previously announced seven-year, $296 million contract that the U.S. Army awarded Mack Defense in 2018. For this new order, 60 heavy dump trucks (HDTs) are being purchased by the U.S. Army Reserve, 74 are being funded by the presidential budget, and one is being purchased by the U.S. Navy. A total of 446 heavy dump trucks have been ordered to date. 
“With every additional order of a Mack HDT, the U.S. Armed Forces are reiterating their confidence in our product,” said David Hartzell, President of Mack Defense. “The U.S. military puts these trucks through the paces every day, and each subsequent requisition shows that the Mack HDT is meeting the military’s demanding requirements.”
The vehicles are relied on for construction and maintenance missions at locations such as airfields, roadways, landing strips, supply facilities, and motor pools. They will be produced at the Mack Experience Center in Allentown, which added a $6.5 million dedicated production line for the vehicles in 2021.
The Army previously had ordered 311 HDTs, which are based on the commercially available Mack® Granite® model and specialized with heavier-duty rear axles, all-wheel drive, increased suspension ride height, and other ruggedized features to meet the military’s unique requirements.
The Granite model is user-friendly, comfortable, and safer to operate compared with previous models used by the Army, which is key to the Army’s investment in the new HDTs, Hartzell said. The Granite HDTs and the production line in Allentown were inspected by government auditors to ensure both met quality expectations.
Mack Trucks, part of the Volvo Group, is one of the Lehigh Valley’s largest employers and recently completed an $84 million expansion project at its assembly plant. The company employs more than 2,500 people in the region.
Mack is a key contributor in the Lehigh Valley's manufacturing industry, which has a collective annual output of $8.4 billion. Manufacturing is the largest part of the region's Gross Domestic Product, at 18%. Nationally, manufacturing makes up 12% of GDP.
(Photo courtesy of Mack Defense)