AAA Zoellner Materials carries on family legacy in latest installment of Mack’s RoadLife 2.0

Mack Trucks featured AAA Zoellner Materials, a multi-generational family owned and operated ready-mix concrete and building materials company, in the eighth episode of Mack's RoadLife 2.0 series. 

AAA Zoellner Materials has a long history with Mack, and the diversity of their operations requires a range of products from Mack's extensive offering for vocational applications. AAA Zoellner Materials currently operates an all-Mack fleet, including Mack Granite concrete mixers and dump trucks, Mack TerraPro concrete boom pumps and Mack Pinnacle day cabs.

"My husband always said it's the workhorse. That's the truck we need for the area we're in," said Patricia Zoellner, affectionately known as "Momma Z" and co-founder of AAA Zoellner Materials. "The service, the wear, the tear, everything, the longevity of life with a Mack truck. He loved it. He couldn't say enough good about Mack." 

Founded in 1994, AAA Zoellner Materials, based in Imperial, Missouri, is one of the St. Louis Metropolitan area's most innovative and versatile producers and providers of concrete mixes for all types of commercial, industrial and residential applications. Along the way, the Zoellner family continually relied on the Mack family of products because of their durability, reliability and performance.

AAA Zoellner Materials decided with their last truck order to introduce something new to their fleet from the Mack product portfolio, so they spec'd Mack mDRIVE HD automated manual transmissions in two of their Mack Granite model mixer trucks with Mack MP 7 11-litre engines. "So far, so good," said Patrick Zoellner, vice president of AAA Zoellner Materials. "The guys actually rave about them."

"The way they shift - they take off good," said Tony Tettaton, longtime head technician for AAA Zoellner Materials. "The way they make the downshift and let the truck slow down without using the [engine] brake so hard, I think it's a good transmission." 

Based on their experiences with the Mack mDRIVE HD transmission, AAA Zoellner Materials recently followed up with an order for four model year 2022 Mack Granite mixers, all spec'd with the Mack mDRIVE HD 14-speed with creeper gears. The addition of two ultra-low, creep-speed reduction gears to the overdrive transmission provides flexible gearing for low-speed applications and improves performance in off-road applications. 

"[AAA Zoellner Materials' business is] very, very vocational-focused, so the trucks are critical to getting the job done," said Dan Green, new truck sales manager at Vanguard Truck Centers in St. Louis. "They've got to be able to get into jobsites, on uneven terrain, and not get stuck. The performance of the trucks is critical."

Mack Granite cabs are built for the jobsite, offering ground-to-floor height, easy maneuverability and maximum visibility and comfort. Granite mixers come ready for upfit right out of the factory, cutting down on installation time and reducing cost.

Optimized for demanding construction applications, including concrete pumping, the Mack TerraPro cabover features a compact cab design that puts operators closer to the job and able to maneuver into tight spaces. Mack's purpose-built pump chassis, with its 120 ksi steel frame rails and durable support system, is designed to absorb heavy loads without stressing the frame. Mack provides concrete mixer and concrete pump customers 24/7 direct access to specialized support through its exclusive concrete mixer and concrete pump hotlines.