Mack Trucks on Tuesday unveiled its new truck, the Pioneer – a model that ends Anthem's eight year reign as the company's on-highway flagship.
Mack Vice President and Product Owner for Highway Trucks Fernando Couceiro noted Anthem has excelled with daycab fleets since its 2017 debut but hasn’t found similar traction in the sleeper market. Reinventing its long-haul offering, he said, is Mack’s attempt to re-attack a part of the Class 8 segment where the company holds just a 2% share.
Mack Trucks North America President Jonathan Randall introduced the Pioneer model Tuesday night to a crowd of more than 800 people, including Volvo Group execs, trucking fleets and Mack dealers in Brooklyn, New York, about 3 miles from where Mack Trucks was founded 125 years ago.
“To take share from our competitors, we have to be better than them,” he said.
To get better than its peers, Mack Trucks Expert Chief Designer Lukas Yates said the priorities for Pioneer – internally dubbed the M1 Aero – were performance, comfort and, of course, aerodynamics.
Tuesday's debut of the Pioneer – the culmination of an eight-year development cycle – was one of the worst-kept secrets in trucking this year thanks to a social media campaign promising "something wicked is on its way" and Blair Witch Project-style video shorts teasing a "monster Mack." Mack Trucks North America President Jonathan Randall has frequently called 2025 "a monster year for Mack."
When the Anthem debuted at Mack’s Global Dealer Summit in Allentown, Penn., in 2017, Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt said it felt "almost like Christmas Day." For the Pioneer, it's more like a birthday, as Mack celebrates its 125th year this year.
The Anthem model name was an homage to the company itself, which builds all its North American trucks in its Lower Macungie Township, Penn., plant. The Pioneer, too, is a nod to Mack's trailblazing legacy in trucking. Autocar is the only heavy truck manufacturer older than Mack (by just three years).
While Pioneer, now available for order with production slated for the coming months, is taking Anthem's place at the apex of the company's large truck catalog, Mack Trucks President Stephen Roy noted it was not going away.
"We are so revved up and ready to show you the next generation of Anthem," he told a crowd of more than 800 Mack Truck dealers, customers, fleets and guests, "but not today."
Most aerodynamic Mack ever
The differences in exterior design between the Anthem (left) and Pioneer are striking.Mack Trucks
There were no sacred cows in Mack's quest for max aero... rather, there were no sacred dogs.
Mack's iconic bulldog has been booted off its perch on the hood and integrated into the truck’s design. Flanked by air intakes that help manage airflow under the hood, Yates said the new bulldog is now "an integral part of the truck’s performance rather than just an emblem. Everything is focused on function, not just there for styling sake."
The grille features a reinforced fiberglass plastic structure with metal formed mesh that is both durable and lightweight – "much like a Pelican gun case," Yates said. The Mack word mark has also been moved to the lower third of the grille.
Mack's iconic bulldog has been booted off its perch on the hood and integrated into the truck’s design and is flanked by air intakes on the hood.
The headlamps include a standard defrost function that pushes hot air into the lens to prevent ice buildup. Previous LED lamp heating solutions relied on embedded wires in the lens, which were both optional and less visually appealing.
The design team started with the driver’s position, building everything around the driver, including an aggressive windscreen angle and a larger and wider door architecture, to ensure both optimal visibility and aerodynamics.
Despite having a blank slate from which to work, designers were challenged by giving birth to an all-new design without sacrificing Mack's blue collar heritage.
"It had to pass the B.A. test," Couceiro said. "Does it look badass?”
“It’s really difficult to make an aero shape look tough,” Yates noted, adding the aerodynamics of the Pioneer, bundled with engine and transmission upgrades, can deliver up to an 11% improvement in fuel efficiency compared with the equivalent prior model. Some of that gain (about 4% of it) comes from a new MP13 engine.
Every exterior detail, Yates said – from the lowered fenders to the continuous surface from the front grille to the back of the sleeper box – was engineered to reduce drag and enhance fuel efficiency while maintaining that traditional Mack Truck look.
"This is the most aerodynamic truck out there (in the U.S.)," Yates said.
One of the most notable aerodynamic options is the digital mirror system – a first for Mack – which replaces traditional side mirrors with cameras housed in pods on top of the sleeper. This system provides better vantage points for drivers by eliminating blind spots while improving fuel efficiency by about 1%.
Crowd-sourced comfort
Pioneer's driver environment gets a push-button start; transmission stalk that moves gear selection to the steering column for improved safety and better ergonomics (it was previously a push button panel on the wing); and Mack's flat-bottom steering wheel that allows for easier entry and exit.
The development of the truck's interior was an exact science.
Mack gathered feedback from dealers and drivers, including a non-branded driver clinic conducted at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, with 40 professional drivers who provided evaluations of the cab's ergonomics and features. The hive mind gave Mack the direction it needed to blow up and reinvent form and function rather than simply refining it.
Much of a then-new Anthem was indeed all new, but at its core Anthem was always an overhauled and modernized CXU.
"An all new body-in-white is really a dream come true for a designer," said Mack Trucks Specialist Chief Designer Vince Lokers, who designed the interior of the Pioneer.
The Pioneer introduces Mack’s new premium seating system: a wider and taller frame seat with expanded shoulder and headrest areas and armrests on both sides of the seat – another Mack first. The roomier seat – enabled by a cab that is 8 inches wider – also uses a perforated material for both heating and cooling functions and has an integrated massage system.
Lokers noted the seat was a big focal point of the entire design project, and his team was able to include "all the features that you would see in automotive."
The door is about 3.5 inches wider with an additional inch of headroom, making entry and exit easier and safer.
Door-mounted HVAC louvers direct heating and cooling to the driver's shoulder area and window, improving comfort and visibility.
The truck also gets a push-button start; transmission stalk that moves gear selection to the steering column for improved safety and better ergonomics (it was previously a push button panel on the wing); Mack's flat-bottom steering wheel that allows for easier entry and exit; wireless charging options; and a customizable switch layout that allows drivers to arrange switch banks according to their preferences.
Pioneer also introduces a new integrated parking cooler as an optional upgrade. The electric auxiliary power unit (APU) uses the truck’s batteries to support cabin cooling without the need to idle the engine.
Pioneer is available in three trim levels and in Day Cab; 44” Mid-Roof Sleeper; 64” Mid-Roof Sleeper; 76” Mid-Roof Sleeper; and 76” High-Roof Sleeper. Each sleeper configuration offers specific features, from basic flat bunks to premium options with reclining bunks. Mack's FlexSuite system, where the lower bunk can be rotated up against the rear wall to create more living space, is available on the 76” sleeper.
Safety and technology
Frontal air bags are standard on the Pioneer, along with Mack Protect, a new Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that incorporates active and passive safety technologies for commercial vehicles.
Cab entry steps feature a unique design borrowed from the construction industry, with extended width and better grip surfaces. The steps are designed with enhanced grip treads and teeth with a non-slip edge, and the openings in the steps allow snow and ice to fall through, preventing buildup in winter conditions.
Gauges are displayed on a 12-inch digital instrument cluster and a 9-inch secondary screen serves as controls for the infotainment.
The Mack Pioneer is also the most connected Mack truck ever built, featuring a substantial increase in remote diagnostics and over-the-air software update capabilities. A new MyMack smartphone app enables drivers to remotely check truck status and control lights and HVAC systems.
Pioneer features an advanced communications system with a ball socket joint mount for phones and navigation devices, and the structural dash extrusion provides device mounting options. An industry-first (and patent pending) ELD mounting plate provides secure placement for essential compliance equipment. A Mack-first tablet holder positioned below it accommodates iPads and similar devices.
The truck includes dual inductive charging stations – one optimized for the driving position and another located in the bunk – to eliminate cable clutter.
