In addition to extending its sponsorship of the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) Share the Road highway safety program, Mack Trucks announced that it will donate a 2018 Mack Anthem 70-inch Stand Up Sleeper model to the effort. Mack made the announcement during an October 23 key handover ceremony at ATA’s Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando FL.
“Safety is a key focus for Mack, something we’ve demonstrated through the design of our new Anthem model and the many safety-focused features it includes,” said Jonathan Randall, senior vice-president of sales for Mack Trucks North America. “Mack’s commitment to safety goes beyond our trucks to those who share our nation’s roads. We’re proud to support the Share the Road drivers and their work to reach millions of people across the country with crucial messages about highway safety.”
The Share the Road program relies on professional truck drivers to conduct live safety exhibitions for students, media, and policy makers demonstrating how to drive safely alongside semi-trucks. Each Share the Road driver has an outstanding driving record, including many with one million or more accident-free miles.
The drivers will travel the country in their new 2018 Mack Anthem 70-inch Stand Up Sleeper model to teach the driving public about truck stopping distances, demonstrate potential truck blind spots and share other safety considerations that can help ensure safe travel for everyone on the road.
“Mack Trucks has a long legacy of promoting highway safety, so we are very fortunate that ATA and Mack Trucks continue to partner together to advance highway safety through ATA’s Share the Road program,” said ATA President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Spear. “When teaching the motoring public about highway safety, our best tool is the Share the Road Mack Anthem because it gives people an opportunity to see what professional truck drivers can see during their day-to-day work.”
The 2018 Mack Anthem model donated to the Share the Road program is designed and engineered for performance, efficiency and safety. The truck features a 13-liter Mack MP8 505C engine with 505 horsepower and 1,860 lb-ft of torque paired with Mack’s 12-speed mDRIVE automated manual transmission, which allows drivers to focus on the road ahead rather than shifting gears. The Mack mDRIVE is standard on all Mack Anthem models.
The Share the Road Anthem will also be equipped with Mack Road Stability Advantage by Bendix and Bendix Wingman Fusion. Road Stability Advantage is a fully electronic stability control system that helps reduce the risk of rollover and jackknife accidents. Bendix Wingman Fusion, a camera- and radar-based system, provides collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning capabilities. Both systems are standard on all Mack Anthem models.