Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/668965
4 | BULLDOG | 2 0 1 6 V 1 HEADLIGHTS C iting above-and-beyond sales advice, technical assistance, operational fi eld support, strategy planning and social media col- laboration, Superior Carriers has awarded Mack Trucks its President's Supplier Excellence Award. The bulk-transportation company recognizes just one supplier with its only annual external award. "We are pleased to recognize Mack Trucks as a top vendor of choice, and we look forward to many more years ahead of our mutually benefi cial relationship," says Brian Nowak, president of Superior Carriers. The company's history with Mack Trucks goes back to Superior Carriers' inception in 1940. Based in Oak Brook, Ill., Superior Carriers, a division of Superior Bulk Logistics, provides hazardous and non-hazardous liquid and dry-bulk logistics management services to the NAFTA region and transports products ranging from commodity chemicals to volatile missile propel- lants. It operates 700 tractors, including more than 200 Mack ® Pinnacle™ sleeper models. "Mack works hard to ensure that our customers know that we have their backs in terms of service and support, and we are willing to go the extra mile to ensure the success of their businesses," says Dennis Slagle, president of Mack Trucks. Nowak says the support of the Mack dealer network also is instru- mental in the success of Superior Carriers' fl eet. Superior Carriers' relationship with Mack goes back to 1940, when Superior was founded. Mack Trucks custom built an all-wheel-drive Granite snowplow model to help Somerset Township, Pennsylvania, make its winding, hilly roads safe for traffi c. Superior Carriers awards Mack Trucks its Supplier Excellence Award W hen Somerset Township, Pennsylvania, had trouble fi nding a manufacturer to design a custom vehicle that could plow snow from its 123 miles of hilly, twisting roads, Mack Trucks came to the rescue. While the township owns fi ve trucks other manufacturers built to meet its unusual requirements, options had become limited. "When we began the process of ordering a new truck, it quickly became clear that we wouldn't be able to do what we had in the past," says Randy Beistel, supervisor of Somerset Township. "Mack stepped up to the plate. We worked closely with our local Mack dealer, Legacy Truck Center, and we built the truck we needed." Kent Lalley, sales associate at Legacy Truck Centers in Somerset, located southeast of Pittsburgh, took the township's desired specs and quickly developed a solution through Mack's Customer Adaptation Center, which assembles custom Mack models. In late 2015, Somerset Township took deliv- ery of a Mack ® Granite ® snowplow model originally built as a 4-by-2, but equipped with a factory-installed, all-wheel-drive system and an 11-foot front snowplow, an aluminum dump body and a salt spreader. The truck is powered by a Mack MP ® 8 engine with 455 horsepower. "Despite all of the unique features on this truck, it went together rather easily," Lalley says. "The pre-build assistance and produc- tion turn-around time from Mack's CAC was impressive." Curtis Dorwart, vocational products mar- keting manager for Mack, says the truck is the latest demonstration of Mack's applica- tion excellence. "Application excellence describes how Mack works closely with our customers to engineer products that not only meet their needs, but also boost their pro- ductivity and performance," Dorwart says. "It's something we've been doing for over a century." The truck was put to use this winter, and Beistel says it is receiving rave reviews from Somerset Township employees. "The Granite's sloped hood gives our drivers much better visibility compared to the com- petitor trucks," he says. "The drivers also tell us the performance and power are awesome." Pennsylvania township battles winter roads with help from Mack