How Mack’s New Model is Faring

With the addition of center storage for lunch coolers, two-liter bottles, beverage cups, mobile phones and MP3 players, the latest refuse model from Mack Trucks Inc., the Mack LR, was built with waste and recycling haulers in mind.

“At Mack, we work hard to understand our customers’ needs and build durable, dependable trucks that get the job done,” Stephen Roy, president of Mack Trucks North America, said in a statement. “By incorporating customer feedback into the LR design, we’ve built a safer, more comfortable work environment for drivers, boosting productivity and driver retention.”

The Greensboro, N.C.-based company unveiled the new Mack LR during WasteExpo 2015 in June. Waste360 recently sat down with Curtis Dorwart, Mack Trucks Inc. vocational products marketing manager, to discuss the new vehicle and the waste and recycling industry’s response to it.

Waste360: How is the Mack LR model different from other refuse trucks?

Curtis Dorwart: The Mack LR was designed as a low-entry cabover truck specifically for the refuse industry. With industry-leading forward and side visibility, along with several new comfort-focused features, the LR improves driver productivity and safety. 

The LR is very versatile in how it can be configured, with a wide variety of available door options and seating configurations. With so many combinations available, the LR can perform many different types of collection, including, but not limited to, rear-load, side-load and front-load applications.

Waste360: How will it benefit the waste and recycling industry?

Curtis Dorwart: Mack combined its decades of experience in the refuse business with input from our customers, which had a significant influence on how the finished truck came together. The LR was built with more of an automotive-style environment and features, especially when compared to other trucks on the market, and this helps to improve productivity on route. 

We’ve also made considerable provisions to integrate body controls in such a way that reduces or eliminates wiring and components that would normally be mounted where they could be subject to damage or obstruct visibility.

Waste360: How has the waste and recycling industry responded to the new model?

Curtis Dorwart: The industry has responded very well to the new model. We’ve sold out our production for 2015 and are now taking orders for 2016.

We are very excited about the new LR model, and it joins the strongest lineup of refuse trucks in the industry. Mack will continue to offer the Mack TerraPro Cabover model, which also is a very versatile chassis and excels in commercial front loading applications. The Mack Granite series, including Granite Medium Heavy Duty model, rounds out the refuse offer for Mack. 

At Mack we take refuse and our refuse industry customers very seriously and back it with a nationwide dealer, parts and service network dedicated to long-term care and support of our products.

Waste360: What are other new features are waste and recycling drivers excited about?

Curtis Dorwart: The LR has additional storage, including a storage unit on the rear wall and a storage locker under the right-hand seat. Drivers will also like the provisions for two cup holders and two two-liter beverage bottle holders.

The LR also features standard power windows, door locks, motorized and heated mirrors, LED lighting, Bluetooth-enabled radio and an in-dash climate system that was designed – from scratch – specifically for the LR.

Waste360: What type of engine does the LR have?

Curtis Dorwart: The LR does not offer dual-fuel engines, but we do offer our Mack MP7 11-liter diesel engine, as well as the Cummins Westport ISL-G 9-liter natural gas engine in the LR. Both engines are dedicated to operate on their respective type of fuel. The natural gas engine is less thermally efficient than a diesel, but that is a matter of physics due to the incredible energy density of diesel.