Mack Trucks Makes Remote Software Updates Standard
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Mack Trucks customers remote software updates for their vehicles as standard by the end of March as the Volvo Group unit seeks to maximize uptime for drivers, executives said.
When AutoSend automated software deployment becomes standard for customers with trucks equipped with driver-display activation, customers won’t have to worry about which trucks need software updates, Chief Digital Officer Nicole Portello told reporters during a virtual press conference.
“A truck that’s updated with the latest software performs better, and it has less downtime. It’s been our core philosophy as we’ve gone through this journey of developing services and using that connected data: How do we drive this to make it even more efficient for our customers?” said Portello.
“The No. 1 thing we heard from [customers] was how this gets really complicated,” she said. “’It’s a lot for me to manage these five trucks. There’s been a software update. Can you just make sure my trucks are updated?’ And we heard that time and time again from customers. ‘Just make sure it’s updated. You know, I don’t want to know the details behind them. I just want to be sure my trucks are on the latest software,’ ” said Portello.
AutoSend comes as part of the Mack Over The Air service. There is no additional charge. Over The Air was introduced in 2017.
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Mack also last overhauled its flagship semi in 2017 with the introduction of the Anthem longhaul truck and the latest remote maintenance enhancements set the stage for an overhaul of the Volvo Group’s key over-the-road tractor in April.
Mack began teasing the freight market on the April 8 unveiling of the tractor the same day as the connectivity enhancements were unveiled, noting on social media: “Prepare for something unlike anything else on the road, #TheNewStandard.”
The branding echoed how Mack President Stephen Roy described the truck in November at Volvo Group’s Capital Markets Day in Dublin, Va.
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“I really see this for Mack as an industry disrupter,” Roy told analysts and media. “We go from a product that’s a fairly old product from a foundational standpoint to a premium product that will absolutely allow us to compete in 70% of the market.”
Mack’s current Class 8 on-highway portfolio comprises the Anthem and Pinnacle models.
“We think we can triple our [longhaul] market share with the new product,” Mack’s top executive said in November.
The new flagship semi is a key variable in Mack’s push to lift its Class 8 market share above 10% by 2030 and the wider Volvo Group aim of a 25% market share by 2030.
Mack’s last lineup update was its first medium-duty electric vehicle, the MD Electric, introduced in March 2023.
Two Mack Anthem trucks. (Mack Trucks)
At a virtual press conference Feb. 24 for the automated software updates, Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America, was visibly excited, noting: “This is a monster year for a lot of different reasons. And first and foremost is we’re celebrating 125 years of innovation. And there’s not many companies that actually get to celebrate 125 years of existence; never mind relevance in an industry.”
Maintaining the relevance theme, Portello said the remote software updates would be as easy as an update to a driver’s cellphone, a phenomenon the modern world has become ever more comfortable with as it goes to bed and takes its eyes away from a screen.
Installing the software updates after a prompt rather than taking time to return to a driver’s home base or a depot would increase uptime, she said, at a time when freight rates remain weak and tonnage volumes are only just beginning to turn around.
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The changes would bring increased peace of mind, Portello said, adding: “Now fleets can worry about other things.”
Fleets and drivers will have a 28-day window to install updates. Fleets or drivers can push back an update for a couple of days, much as they might with a cellphone update.
Mack is also trying to increase fleet owners’ peace of mind by introducing self-service parameter updates through its Mack Connect customer portal in the second quarter of 2025.
The enhancement will allow fleet managers to create and deploy custom parameter profiles directly from Mack Connect rather than requiring assistance from Mack’s Uptime Center. This feature will allow carriers to manage critical vehicle settings such as road speed limits and idle shutdown parameters on their own, it said. Mack Connect was launched in October 2023.
