The Mack CH series belongs to the conventional-cab side of Mack’s range, the trucks with the engine ahead of the driver that the company has built in Pennsylvania for decades. The records in this collection cover the CH, CH600-series and CH613 models.
Mack CH series at a glance
| Maker | Mack Trucks |
|---|---|
| Type | conventional-cab (bonneted) highway truck |
| Assembled | Macungie, Pennsylvania |
| Powertrain | Mack engines and transmissions built in Hagerstown, Maryland |
| Related models | CL series, built on a longer hood |
| Company owner since 2000 | Volvo |
| Market | Class 8 to class 13 vocational and on-road trucks |
| Parts for right-hand-drive trucks | made in Brisbane, Australia |
| Remanufacturing | Middletown, Pennsylvania |
There is no dedicated Wikipedia article on the Mack CH; this page is based on the company article and the related model pages.
History of the Mack CH series
Mack moved its whole truck range onto the conventional layout step by step. The B series of 1953 and the R series of 1966 had the engine in front of the cab, and when Mack phased out the highway versions of the R in the 1990s it was the CH and CL that took their place. The CH kept the conventional shape with a shorter hood; the CL added a longer bonnet in front of the same cab, and both used the driveline Mack built itself.
Since 2000 Mack has been a subsidiary of Volvo, which bought Mack together with its former parent Renault Véhicules Industriels. Assembly stayed in Pennsylvania, at the Lehigh Valley Operations plant in Macungie, while engines, transmissions, transfer cases and power take-offs continued to come from the Hagerstown plant that also makes the engines Mack Defense supplies for military vehicles. That combination of an American chassis and an American driveline is what the CH records represent.
Design and features
- Conventional cab: engine ahead of the driver, the layout Mack used for its highway tractors.
- Mack driveline: Mack engines, transmissions and axles designed to work together.
- American assembly: chassis and bodies built at Macungie, Pennsylvania.
- Family of models: the CH records include the CH600-series and CH613 versions.
Mack CH series versions
- CH: the base conventional highway tractor.
- CH603: one of the CH model designations recorded here.
- CH613: the best-known designation, a heavy highway tractor.
- CL: the long-hood relative, described on its own page.
The CH shared its cab with the Mack CL series, and its predecessor in the range was the Mack R series. The aerodynamic conventional that followed is the Mack Vision. More trucks are in the Mack collection.
Sources
- Mack Trucks, English Wikipedia: company history, plants, Volvo ownership
- Mack R series, English Wikipedia: the CH/CL as successors of the R highway models
- Mack Super-Liner, English Wikipedia: the CL700 as a longer-hood CH600
