Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31373
TEST DRIVE On Auto Pilot Mack’s new mDrive AMT takes the treachery out of a long mountain drive O n a cold March morning, sitting at a conference table overlook- ing Mack’s and Volvo’s gleaming corporate campus in Greensboro, N.C., I asked Kevin Flaherty, se- nior vice president for Mack in the U.S. and Canada, if I detected a bit of swagger at this century-plus-old American company these days. I got a good-natured laugh in response to my question. “I don’t like the word swagger,” Flaherty said. “It has too much in common with cocky. And we’re definitely not cocky. But Mack is in a really, really good place these days.” The new Mack engines with ClearTech SCR technology, he said, were “a home run.” A few days later, at an industry event in Louis- ville, Ky., Flaherty would underscore 22 TRUCKERS NEWS JUNE 2011 his point by announcing a 12 per- cent increase in fuel economy for 2010 Mack diesel engines (on trucks equipped with new Mack aerody- namic equipment) compared to their 2007 counterparts. But before I could get to Louisville, I had to take a 2011 Mack Pinnacle A/B with a 70-inch mid-rise sleeper across the Smoky Mountains out of Greens- boro. David McKenna, Mack’s direc- tor of powertrain sales and market- ing, would accompany me. Dave’s job would be to point out the ben- efits and features of the 505 horse- power Mack MP8 diesel engine, coach me on the proper use of the Pinnacle’s mDrive 12-speed au- tomated manual transmission and generally keep me company on the 500-mile run. THE SECRET FORMULA Automated manual (AMT) and au- tomatic transmissions are making tremendous inroads in the heavy duty market. In fact, Flaherty be- lieves that in just a few short years, 40 percent of new Mack trucks will be spec’d with mDrive AMTs. Auto- matic transmissions in commercial vehicles aren’t new. But early models faced reliability issues while operat- ing in rugged applications. Over the years, manufacturers have steadily improved their designs to ensure de- pendable service. But the real break- through for automatics has been the increasing sophistication of on- board electronic control modules. These mini-computers allow vehicle components to “talk” to each other electronically and tailor their perfor- mance to match the driver’s needs. With the Mack mDrive, McK- enna said, the transmission starts out by sensing the load behind the tractor. In our case, we were pull- ing a flatbed loaded with granite JACK ROBERTS