Facts: Mack Truck
Photo: Three Mack trucks lined (View larger version)
- Ford may be a household name in American cars, but The Mack Brothers Company was incorporated in New York in 1900, two years before Henry Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Co.
- Mack built 4,100 1918 AC model Mack trucks for the Allied powers during World War I. Its unique blunt-nosed design, and physical and performance toughness earned the 1918 AC model the nickname “Bull Dog Macks.” The Bulldog is now the mascot of the Mack Brothers Company.
- In 1956, the U.S. government relied on Mack trucks to transport materials for building the Distant Early Warning system, a preventative measure against a potential Soviet nuclear attack: 60 radar sites strategically spread across 3,000 miles of Alaska and Northern Canada.
- For its 100th anniversary in 2000, Mack celebrated by creating the Mack Centennial Trailer Exhibit: a travelling museum meant to tell the fascinating story of the company thus far.
- Mack made its first appearance on the big screen in the 1920 film “What’s Your Hurry” and most recently appeared in the “Transformers” films and “Cars 2”.
- The first bull dog ornament appeared on Mack truck hoods in 1932.
- The Macungie Plant uses paints that do not contain toxic lead and chromium compounds.
- A Mack truck set a world record in Australia when it pulled 4836.9 feet of trailers for 328 feet. The length of those trailers is over three times the height of the Empire State Building.
- The first Mack truck ever built, the 1916 Mack AC model, was recently showcased in Las Vegas.
- In the 1930s, Mack trucks were used on various groundbreaking projects in the U.S., including the construction of the New York subway system and the Hoover Dam.
- Mack participated in a total of 15 trade shows across the U.S. and Canada during 2011.
- The Macungie Plant is massive, covering 283 acres in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
- In 1950, highway congestion had become a major national issue and many believed trucks were to blame. Mack answered their critics with its own advertising and public relations efforts. When the Korean conflict began that June, the company adopted the slogan “National Security Rides on Trucks".
- By the end of the Second World War, Mack produced more than 35,000 units for the Allied Forces, making it the Allies’ primary supplier.
- The Macungie Plant has attempted to “green” its production process. Between 2005 and 2009 there was a 40% reduction in landfill waste.