Last year’s Work Truck Show, one of the last to be held in-person in 2020, was the coming-out party for the Mack Trucks MD Series after the January 2020 announcement of Mack Trucks’s entry into the Class 6 and 7 markets. A year later, at a virtually held Work Truck Show 2021, Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks senior vice president of North American sales and commercial operations, noted that MD Series launch, production and rollout kept trucking.
“Since the announcement in January [2020] and then our public showing last March, we went into series production in September and started delivering trucks to customers and dealers,” Randall reported.
Where Mack Trucks fits into the medium-duty market
During the virtual press conference, Randall answered the question: Why did Mack Trucks get into the medium-duty truck market?
“Our customers asked for it,” he said. “We had dealers and customers who run Mack Trucks but had to look elsewhere for their Class 6 and 7 needs.
“When you look at the medium-duty market in totality, on average, the medium-duty market is approximately 100,000 units a year,” he continued. “Last year was an anomaly in the high 70,000s. This year, we’re forecasting the market to be about 87,000.”
Mack Trucks MD6, MD7 details
Randall ran through a refresher of the MD6 and MD7 Mack medium-duty lineup features. The MD6 is a Class 6 model with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 25,995 lbs. and the MD7 is a Class 7 model with a GVWR of 33,000 lbs. Both models are exempt from the 12 percent Federal Excise Tax (FET). The OEM noted that a commercial driver’s license (CDL) is not required to operate the MD6 model as long as the payload is non-hazardous.
Available in 4×2 configurations, the Mack MD6 and MD7 are ideal for dry van/refrigerated, tank truck, dump, stake and flatbed applications. The MD Series also offers a clear back of cab and top of frame rail to make it easier for body builder adaptations, the OEM noted.
The MD6 and MD7 models are equipped with the Cummins B6.7 engine, an Allison six-speed transmission and Meritor front and rear axles. Eight wheelbase lengths are offered with the Mack MD Series, supporting typical bodies ranging from 10 to 26 ft. The vehicles come standard with 22.5-in. wheels or optional 19.5-in. wheels, and touts a 103-in. bumper-to-back-of-cab (BBC) measurement.
More Mack Truck announcements
Mack trucks made several announcements during Work Truck Show 2021. Click the stories below for all of the details.
