As recently as three years ago, if you saw Mack on a job site it was probably one of a few things: a Granite dump, a Pinnacle (or maybe a Titan) dropping off a load, or a really, really old Freedom – or even older D Model.
Mack re-entered the medium duty segment in early 2020 with a truck that was intended to dominate the local delivery scene. Upwards of 40% of the medium duty market is lease and rental, and 75% of the segment is a box truck with a lift gate. Thankfully, Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America, said Mack's network of dealers had their own ideas for the MD and, he added, the model has since excelled in segments where it wasn't initially designed to fit.
[Related: Test drive of Mack's MD Series]
The available eight wheelbases in the MD6 and MD7 give fleet operators a lot of options with regard to body fitment. Here an MD 6 is equipped with vacuum service body.Jason Cannon
When the MD6 and MD7 launched in March 2020, "the very next week the world shut down," Randall said. "A lot has happened since the launch of the MD. It was launched into a totally different market."
Mack's return to medium duty after a nearly two-decade hiatus has been impressive if not resurgent.
Randall noted MD's medium duty marketshare hit 5.5% in just more than two years of production – a level the company planned to reach over the course of about 5 years. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic the timing of Mack's MD debut feels less than ideal, however, Randall said it was fortuitous in that "it gave our dealers something else to sell in what became a Class 8 constrained market."
