Granite MHD saves weight for ready mix hauler

When Andre P. Caillier founded A&A Ready Mixed Concrete in 1949, he started with 40 trucks and two batch plants. Today his sons, Kurt and Randy, own the largest family-owned supplier of ready-mix concrete in California. A&A operates 28 plants, employs 500 people and is responsible for 1,000 vehicles. Purchasing trucks from TEC of California at La Mirada – originally Mack R and RD models, now Mack Granites – most recently testing out the Mack Granite MHD (Medium Heavy Duty, pictured), built on Mack’s rugged Cornerstone chassis with lighter frame rails, engine and transmission options to maximize payload. The MHD comes in hundreds of pounds lighter than its bigger sibling.

“A mixer here needs to be different to carry a decent sized payload,” says Mike Cook, fleet/purchasing manager for the company, based in Newport Beach, California. “We need a truck that will last a long time and still meet the weight requirements. The MHD Granite’s spec allows us to haul a payload that is better than the other trucks we have in a similar class. Mack has made a more competitive truck for the California market.”

The company’s drivers like it, too. “The MHD is quiet and smooth-riding, loaded and unloaded,” said near-30-year veteran hauler Dennis Pyle. “The cab is comfortable, visibility’s nice, steering’s good. I think it turns tighter than the competition. It looks good. The truck gets the job done.”