“Mack actually listened to us”

P&A Burdett Haulage have 15 Macks hauling sand and just about anything else you can tip, and their Macks are doing the job non-stop.

Since 1974, P&A Burdett Haulage have been supplying sand to the concrete plants, golf courses, freeway construction sites and football ovals of Melbourne. They’ve gone from a small sand quarry into a major supplier of garden, building, landscape and nursery supplies with over 100 staff. Along the way, Andrew Burdett’s fleet has grown to 52 trucks, 15 of which are Macks.

A truck for every application

“We’ve got every type of Mack except the Titan,” says Andrew, “and we’ve chosen each one for a specific job. We’ve got Metro-Liners set up as concrete agitators, Granites in tipper & dogs, Tridents doing four and five-axle dog tippers and Super-Liners pulling B-doubles. That’s what I like about Mack, they’ve got a truck that suits every job I have to do.”

Getting the wheelbase right

To maximise the payload of a tipper and dog configuration you need specific axle dimensions, and this was the basis for Andrew’s most recent purchase of several Mack Trident Axle-Forward models.

“The Trident gave us the dimensions we needed and it’s a popular truck with the drivers,” says Andrew, “especially the m DRIVE automated manual transmission. After a week in the truck they’re like ‘Wow!’ They’re also keen on the level of comfort of the Mack cabs and the good field of vision from behind the wheel.”

Keeping the fleet on the road

Andrew’s a big believer in reliability, and he gets it through a Mack Service Contract.

“All our Macks are on maintenance contracts,” he says, “which means I can concentrate on the business. The best type of warranty is one you don’t have to use, and that’s been the case so far with these Macks. I’m more than happy with how they’ve gone.”

Two of the Macks have gold bulldogs with the all-Mack drivetrain, and Andrew’s an enthusiast for it.

“I’d have them all gold if I could but I need some really heavy diffs that are outside the gold bulldog spec,” says Andrew, “but having the whole drivetrain provided by one manufacturer is fantastic, there are no arguments over who’s responsible for what, only one butt to kick if you like. Having Mack take full responsibility is worth a lot to me.”

Building a relationship

“One thing that really stands out for me with Mack,” says Andrew, “is that we’re starting to build a relationship based on what we both need. They need to sell trucks, I need specific things. Mack are really open to our suggestions, they’re willing to find out what the user wants and build to it.

“Our drivers also get to have input and that means a lot to them. Mack actually listened to us and made an effort to deliver what we wanted, and that’s refreshing.”