“My husband always said it’s the workhorse. That’s the truck we need for the area we’re in,” said Patricia (Pat) Zoellner, affectionately known as “Momma Z” and co-founder of AAA Zoellner Materials. “The service, the wear, the tear, everything, the longevity of life with a Mack truck. He loved it. He couldn’t say enough good about Mack.”
Founded in 1994, AAA Zoellner Materials, based in Imperial, Missouri, is one of the St. Louis Metropolitan area’s most innovative and versatile producers and providers of concrete mixes for all types of commercial, industrial and residential applications. Along the way, the Zoellner family continually relied on the Mack family of products because of their durability, reliability and performance.
AAA Zoellner Materials decided with their last truck order to introduce something new to their fleet from the Mack product portfolio, so they spec’d Mack mDRIVE™ HD automated manual transmissions in two of their Mack Granite model mixer trucks with Mack MP®7 11-liter engines. “So far, so good,” said Patrick Zoellner, vice president of AAA Zoellner Materials. “The guys actually rave about them.”
“The way they shift - they take off good,” said Tony Tettaton, longtime head technician for AAA Zoellner Materials. “The way they make the downshift and let the truck slow down without using the [engine] brake so hard, I think it’s a good transmission.”
Based on their experiences with the Mack mDRIVE HD transmission, AAA Zoellner Materials recently followed up with an order for four model year 2022 Mack Granite mixers, all spec’d with the Mack mDRIVE HD 14-speed with creeper gears. The addition of two ultra-low, creep-speed reduction gears to the overdrive transmission provides flexible gearing for low-speed applications and improves performance in off-road applications.
"[AAA Zoellner Materials’ business is] very, very vocational-focused, so the trucks are critical to getting the job done,” said Dan Green, new truck sales manager at Vanguard Truck Centers in St. Louis. “They've got to be able to get into jobsites, on uneven terrain, and not get stuck. The performance of the trucks is critical."
Mack Granite cabs are built for the jobsite, offering best-in-class ground-to-floor height, easy maneuverability and maximum visibility and comfort. Granite mixers come ready for upfit right out of the factory, cutting down on installation time and reducing cost. Optimized for demanding construction applications, including concrete pumping, the Mack TerraPro cabover features a compact cab design that puts operators closer to the job and able to maneuver into tight spaces. Mack’s purpose-built pump chassis, with its120 ksi steel frame rails and durable support system, is designed to absorb heavy loads without stressing the frame. Mack provides concrete mixer and concrete pump customers 24/7 direct access to specialized support through its exclusive concrete mixer and concrete pump hotlines.
Additional RoadLife 2.0 episodes will premiere throughout the year. Viewers can watch RoadLife episodes on roadlife.tv and Amazon Prime Video, with additional content featured on Mack Trucks’ social channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Dedicated to durability, reliability and meeting the needs of customers, Mack Trucks has provided purpose-built transportation solutions for more than a century. Today, Mack is one of North America’s largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, and Mack® trucks are sold and serviced through an extensive distribution network in more than 45 countries. Mack trucks, diesel engines and transmissions sold in North America are assembled in the United States. Mack manufacturing locations are certified to the internationally recognized ISO 9001 standard for quality, ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems and OHSAS 18001 standard for health and safety management systems. Mack is also a proud sponsor of Share the Road, an American Trucking Associations public information campaign aimed at enhancing the safety of our nation's roadways.
Mack Trucks is part of the Volvo Group, which is driving prosperity through transport and infrastructure solutions, offering trucks, buses, construction equipment, power solutions for marine and industrial applications, financing and services that increase customer uptime and productivity. Founded in 1927, the Volvo Group is committed to shaping the future landscape of sustainable transport and infrastructure solutions. The Volvo Group is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, employs almost 100,000 people and serves customers in more than 190 markets. In 2020, net sales amounted to about $36.8 billion. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com.