GREENSBORO, N.C. – Mack Trucks celebrated the 40th anniversary of its Mack Lehigh Valley Operations manufacturing facility Nov. 19.

“Over the past 40 years, we have proudly assembled thousands of Mack models for customers around the world,” said Stephen Roy, president of Mack Trucks North America. “Each employee’s precision and dedication also has helped solidify Mack’s reputation for building some of the toughest, highest-quality and most durable trucks on the road.”

The first highway truck assembled at the plant, located in the Lower Macungie Township in Pennsylvania, was the Mack F711ST model, which rolled onto the streets Nov. 19, 1975, with site preparation for the one million square-foot facility commencing in May 1974 and construction starting shortly thereafter.

Other trucks initially produced at the facility included the Mack CF model fire apparatus, Mack F model cabover highway trucks and off-highway models, such as the Mack M series mining trucks and Mack Pack articulated bottom dump.

Recent investments into the plant has helped modernise the production process, which also boasts new equipment to better post-production testing and inspection processes.

Mack Trucks says its Lehigh Valley facility – formerly known as Macungie Cab and Vehicle Assembly – is a model for energy efficiency improvements, becoming the first site to earn the U.S. Department of Energy’s Superior Energy Performance platinum certification in the Mature Energy Pathway in 2013.

Wade Watson, vice-president and general manager of Mack Lehigh Valley Operations, said the new name identifies the facility’s heritage, more accurately captures its operational footprint and the contributions of employees in the region.

“Although we are celebrating four decades of success at our plant,” Watson said, “we have been revitalizing the facility with innovative systems and tools that already give our operation a very modern feel, and we are not yet complete with our updates.”