ALLENTOWN, PA (March 19th, 2025) – Mack Defense celebrated a major milestone Wednesday. They have now produced their 500th Heavy Dump Truck designed specifically for the U.S. Army. To celebrate they held an open house where they produce the vehicles at the Mack Experience Center in Allentown.
You often think of Mack Trucks, the ones going down the highway carrying loads of goods, but since 2018, Mack has also been producing defense dump trucks. They are officially titled M917A3 HDT’s: produced at its subsidiary, Mack Defense.
“In 2018-2019 we were responsible for building non-armored test assets and then also armored test assets that we had to deliver to the U.S. Army,” said Mack Defense President and CEO David Hartzell.
After rigorous testing, the non-armored and armored trucks made the grade and Mack Defense got to work on mass producing the vehicles.
“For the last four years, we’ve been producing at a rate of about 120 vehicles per year,” said Hartzell.
Which brings us to the celebration: Mack Defense has now proudly produced its 500th HDT.
Hartzell said, “Of the 500 or more so trucks that we built, over 400 of them have actually been fielded in and are put out there into active deployment.”
Hartzell said the trucks are being used in 30 states and all around the world.
“Guam, in Iraq, in Jordan, in Germany and other areas around the world supporting our U.S. military operations abroad,” he said.
That’s something Mack takes a lot of pride in.
“Especially knowing that’s part of Mack’s heritage, our bulldog corporate symbol was derived out of our service in World War I when Mack Truck provided thousands of vehicles to our U.S. soldiers,” said Hartzell.
It plans to continue that service to the U.S. Army through at least 2030.
Original article & full video located on WFMZ article HERE
CAPTION: Mack Defense today announced that the U.S. military has ordered 103 Mack
Defense M917A3 Heavy Dump Trucks (HDTs).
CAPTION: Mack Defense, a subsidiary of Mack Trucks, provides the world’s finest vehicles to the US military and allied militaries worldwide.
Mack Defense, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mack Trucks, is responsible for the sale of heavy-duty trucks to federal- and ministerial-level customers globally. For more information, please visit mackdefense.org.
Mack Defense, LLC, is part of the Volvo Group, which is driving prosperity through transport solutions by 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 about 100,000 people and serves customers in more than 190 markets. In 2022, net sales amounted to about $47 billion. Volvo shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com.
This effort was sponsored by the U.S. Government under Other Transaction Authority number W15QKN-17-9-1025 with the National Advanced Mobility Consortium, Inc. (NAMC). Reference herein to any specific commercial company, product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the Department of the Army (DA). The opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, the DA, or the National Advanced Mobility Consortium, Inc., and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. For more information, please visit www.namcconsortium.org.