Mack-Powered TerraPro Cabover Models Get Expanded Telematics
Mack Trucks has expanded telematics connections to all Mack-powered TerraPro cabover models and selected four dealerships, including one in Canada, as its first Certified Uptime Centers.
Mack, exhibiting at the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas, said its GuardDog Connect telematics now is standard on all Mack TerraPro cabover models equipped with a Mack MP engine. The trucks can be configured as concrete pump, dump, mixer or refuse vehicles.
The truck maker, a unit of the Volvo Group along with sister company Volvo Trucks, said GuardDog Connect enables quick diagnosis of issues, proactive scheduling for repairs and confirmation that needed parts are in stock and ready to install, all while the truck is on the job.
GuardDog Connect was made standard on TerraPro concrete pump chassis in 2015, Mack said, and was the first truck maker to offer proactive support service for pump applications. GuardDog Connect has been standard on the larger Pinnacle, Granite and Titan models since 2013.
Turning to the new service center designation, Mack said Certified Uptime Centers will simplify and accelerate the service process.
The first four dealers to achieve certification are: Nextran Truck Center of Birmingham, Alabama; Vanguard Truck Center of Phoenix; Vision Truck Center of Mississauga, Ontario; and Westfall O’Dell Truck Sales of Kansas City, Missouri.
Dealers are certified based on 28 processes, ranging from shop organization to implementation of diagnostic tools, Mack said.
For example, trucks with repairs that require less than four hours are repaired immediately, rather than being shuffled to the back of the line, as with the typical first-come, first-served practice.
Also, the manufacturer said it donated a 2016 Mack Granite Axle Forward model to the 11th-annual Concrete Industry Management program auction. The truck is mounted with an 11-cubic-yard Bridgemaster mixer donated by McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing, Inc., an Oshkosh Corp. company.
The CIM program was developed to equip students with the enhanced technical, communication and management skills needed to succeed in the concrete industry, Mack said.
Originally offered at Middle Tennessee State University, the four-year degree program now is offered at New Jersey Institute of Technology, California State University in Chico and Texas State University.
Proceeds from the auction last year raised more than $800,000, Mack said.
