Mack partnership means concrete customers can now track product in real time

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Mack Trucks North America revealed its partnership with WheresMyConcrete in an effort to bring its customers a superior management tool to track a concrete load during the delivery process.

Tim Wrinkle, construction product manager for Mack Trucks, made the announcement in Las Vegas during the World of Concrete conference Jan. 17, saying the fleet management service is now available for ready-mix customers.

“All this is designed to provide job management for the customer,” Wrinkle said. “WheresMyConcrete helps Mack’s ready-mix customers better track vehicles, while also offering analytics to improve operational performance, enabling the more efficient management of their trucks.”

Tim Wrinkle.
Tim Wrinkle.

In addition to providing fleet managers with real-time information on the whereabouts of their concrete, WheresMyConcrete can also be tailored to customer needs, such as GPS tracking of trucks, and can include features like digital tickets, electronic billing, sales tracking, analytics and driver payroll management.

Contractors can download the WheresMyConcrete app on Android and iOS devices to track deliveries, get live traffic updates and estimated times of arrival.

“WheresMyConcrete helps US Concrete increase the value we provide to our customers and helps differentiate us from our competition,” said Ronnie Pruitt, COO of US Concrete. “The dispatching software increases efficiency and productivity of Mack vehicles in our fleet to improve customer service, and the customer interaction app provides our customers real-time data about their concrete, saving them time and money.”

The software is a new addition to Mack’s Fleet Management Services and uses the factory installed GuardDog Connect integrated telematics platform, a program that enables real-time monitoring of a truck’s engine, transmission and aftertreatment systems. WheresMyConcrete is available on Mack truck models equipped with a Mack engine, including the Pinnacle, Granite, TerraPro and LR.

“WheresMyConcrete provides concrete producers a comprehensive and intuitive tool that delivers better data to make better decisions,” said Anthony Valente, CEO of WheresMyConcrete. “And, thanks to Mack’s fully integrated GuardDog Connect telematics system, we can deliver these improvements without the need for additional hardware.”

Valente added that with the limited shelf life of concrete – approximately 90 minutes – the WheresMyConcrete tool helps companies manage their product more efficiently, as well as analytics that aids in better driver management.
WheresMyConcrete currently has 16 customers across the US.

mDrive

Mack also announced two new features to its mDrive transmissions – rolling start and auto neutral.

The features will come standard on all Mack mDrive and mDrive HD transmissions and are designed to improve the jobsite performance and safety of trucks equipped with the two automated manual transmissions.

“Mack’s mDrive transmissions serve a wide range of customers, including those with demanding paving and concrete applications,” said Wrinkle. “Now updated with rolling start and auto neutral, mDrive transmissions are even better suited to those tasks.”

Wrinkle said Mack was the leader in concrete construction, and products like the mDrive were a big reason for that success.

“This has been a game-changer,” he said of the mDrive. “This is the most popular construction engine in a Mack.”

The rolling start feature allows drivers to shift the transmission into drive without using the truck’s service brakes, which helps eliminate the possible creation of bumps in the paving surface.

Auto neutral automatically puts the mDrive into neutral when the parking brake is applied, which Mack said improves jobsite safety by reducing the likelihood of the truck moving due to throttle application.

“Thanks to the performance, productivity and fuel efficiency benefits mDrive transmissions deliver, customers are increasingly choosing them for their applications,” Wrinkle said. “In fact, mDrive transmissions are now the most popular choice in a Mack.”

Jonathan Randall, senior vice-president of sales for Mack Trucks, said the company gained one point in year-over-year growth in 2016, but is anticipating North American Class 8 retail sales to fall in 2017, with an estimated 215,000 units sold.

The Mack mDrive and mDrive HD penetration reached record levels in Pinnacle axle back and Granite models sold in the US and Canada, with 80% and 20% respectively, and the company predicts numbers to double for the mDrive HD in Granite models in 2017.

“We expect our share growth to continue (in 2017),” said Randall.

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A university graduate with a degree in English, I have worked in the media and trucking industries as a writer, editor, and now as western bureau chief of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. I have several years of management experience in journalism, as well as hospitality, but am first and foremost a writer, both professionally and in my personal life, having completed two fiction novels.
derek@newcom.ca
@DerekClouthier


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