The MD lineup targets trucking applications in dry van and refrigerated segments, and vocational applications in flatbed, dump and tank.Mack Trucks is opening a new production facility in Salem, Virginia, where it will manufacture an all-new medium-duty truck line. The company cut the ribbon on the new facility Thursday and showed off prototypes of its new Mack MD6 and Mack MD7 truck — Class 6 and Class 7 rigs, respectively.
The new plant, a 280,000-square-foot-facility will employ 250 workers. Mack invested $13 million in the Roanoke County facility.
The plant is strategically positioned between Mack’s Geeensboro, North Carolina, headquarters and its Allentown, Pennsylvania truck production site. It’s also less than an hour from sister company Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley truck production site.
The Mack MD6 has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 25,995 pounds, and the MD7 model has a GVWR of 33,000 pounds. Both are exempt from the 12% Federal Excise Tax (FET).Mack’s new medium duty entries – the Class 6 MD6 and Class 7 MD7 – unlocks new over the road segments for the truck maker. The MD lineup targets trucking applications in dry van and refrigerated segments, and vocational applications in flatbed, dump and tank.
Production of the trucks is set to begin this summer and the company is already taking orders.
The exterior is stylized similarly to Mack’s on-highway champion, Anthem, but the new MD trucks will be equipped with Cummins 6.7 liter engine — a 300-hp and 660 lb.-ft of torque set-up, matched with an Allison 2500HS transmission and Meritor axles.
Available in a 4×2 configuration, Mack says both models will feature a sharp wheel cut for urban maneuverability and noted the MD Series cab design features a short, 103-inch bumper-to-back-of-cab (BBC) measurement.
