In its never-ending battle against Old Man Winter, Somerset Township, Pennsylvania just gained a major advantage: a unique Mack® Granite® snow plow model outfitted with all-wheel drive that can handle nearly anything winter can throw at it. The truck is the latest demonstration of Mack’s application excellence.
“Application excellence describes how Mack works closely with our customers to engineer products that not only meet their needs, but also boost their productivity and performance,” said Curtis Dorwart, Mack vocational products marketing manager. “It’s something we’ve been doing for over a century.”
Located just over an hour southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Somerset Township maintains 123 miles of roads that must be plowed after each snowstorm. The Township needed a truck that could handle the hills, twists and turns of its roads in addition to the snow, but wasn’t finding any solutions.
While Mack Granite models typically come in any number of more typical configurations, Somerset Township required something more exotic. Originally built as a 4×2, the Township spec’d a factory-installed all-wheel drive system and 11-foot front snow plow, along with an aluminum dump body and salt spreader. The Granite model is powered by a Mack MP8® engine with 455 horsepower.
This unique configuration is standard fare for the Township, which has five similarly spec’d trucks from other manufacturers. But when the time came to order their next truck, the options were 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,” said Randy Beistel, Somerset Township Supervisor. “Mack stepped up to the plate. We worked closely with our local Mack dealer, Legacy Truck Center, and we built the truck we needed.”
Legacy Truck Center sales associate Kent Lalley worked closely with the Township and was able to take their desired specs and quickly develop a solution through Mack’s Customer Adaptation Center (CAC), which handles assembling custom spec’d Mack models.
“Despite all of the unique features on this truck, it went together rather easily,” said Lalley. “The pre-build assistance and production turn-around time from Mack’s CAC was impressive.”
Somerset Township took delivery of their Mack Granite model in late 2015, and the truck is now in service and receiving rave reviews.
“The Granite’s sloped hood gives our drivers much better visibility compared to the competitor trucks, said Beistel. “The drivers also tell us the performance and power is awesome.”
