Mack to offer Allison 3000 RDS transmission as option on MD Series

INDIANAPOLIS—Mack Trucks announced it will expand its vocational offerings to medium-duty customers by making the Allison 3000 RDS transmission optional on new MD Series models.

The decision, which Mack officials at Work Truck Week 2022 on March 9 called “strategic,” allows customers additional options for applications that demand more power but are best suited for medium-duty vehicles.

“The transmission enables customers to haul more payload and utilize a live power PTO, both of which are critical for our customers desiring a medium-duty vehicle that can handle demanding applications,” Dayle Wetherell, Mack’s VP of medium-duty sales, said in a Mack release.

“Our wheelhouse at Mack is vocationals,” Tim Wrinkle, Mack’s construction product manager, added during a press conference at the OEM’s exhibit hall space. “So, the Allison 3000 was the next great step.”

The OEM previously only offered the Allison 2500 RDS for its MD Series models, which are assembled at its Roanoke Valley Operations plant in Roanoke Valley, Virginia. Recently, Mack produced its 5,000th MD Series truck at that facility.

The Allison 3000 RDS transmission offers greater versatility for customers in 4x2 refuse, tank, and dump applications. The MD Series equipped with an Allison 3000 RDS transmission is approved at a 33,000-lb. gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) for refuse and recycling applications, allowing the Mack MD to haul more. The Allison 3000 also allows for a live power takeoff (PTO) for MD Series tanker trucks that deliver heating oil, water, fuel, and propane, and dump trucks, enabling the vehicle to move while using the PTO at the same time.

“The ability to have a direct-drive PTO is extremely important for some of Mack’s medium-duty customers because they can lift and lower a dump body while driving without worrying about what gear the truck is in,” Wrinkle said. “It’s also important for snowplows and salt spreaders that need to work at the same time.”

The Allison 3000 RDS also offers a higher gross combination weight rating (GCWR), allowing customers to drive the Mack MD Series model and pull utility trailers with small excavators. The Mack MD Series equipped with an Allison 3000 RDS will have a GCWR of 45,000 lbs.

The MD Series can be spec’d as a Class 6 with 25,995 lb. GVWR and as a Class 7 with 33,000 lb. GVWR. With the MD Series, Mack now offers a complete lineup of vehicles from Classes 6 to 8.

Mack leans into vocational updates at NTEA

In its Work Truck Week presentation, which was also an update of the Mack Granite as well as the MD Series, the OEM reported that vans, reefers, and stake applications now make up 72% of the OEM’s medium-duty users, while tank, dump, service, refuse and other applications make up 28%.

Mack also debuted a bench passenger seat for new Granites that features two widths (full and a narrower version to accommodate a console), more durable fabric, and improved ergonomics with 3 in. of additional legroom. The OEM also reviewed the specs on its mDrive Dual PTO announced in January, an automated manual transmission that features left and right power takeoff options.

This article originally appeared on FleetOwner.com.