New from Mack Trucks is Load Logic and a 6×2 liftable pusher axle option for the Pinnacle highway model, bringing fuel efficiency and productivity improvements to bulk and liquid haul applications.

Designed for applications that routinely haul out heavy and return empty, the new options are designed to monitor trailer weight and adjust the truck’s driveline configuration to boost fuel efficiency without impacting performance.

Load Logic integrates an advanced sensor in the rear suspension with the Mack mDrive automated manual transmission. When a fully loaded trailer is detected, it operates as a direct-drive transmission, locking out 12th gear for increased performance and pulling power. When an empty trailer is detected, the transmission switches to overdrive, enabling 12th gear to lower cruise rpm and maximize fuel efficiency.

Load Logic is available exclusively with Mack’s efficiency-focused Super Econodyne system. In this combination, Load Logic is claimed to deliver up to an additional 2% improvement in fuel efficiency when compared to a standard engine rating.

Similarly, the 6×2 with liftable pusher axle can also determine payload by using sensors in the rear suspension and either lifting or lowering the foremost rear axle. When an empty load is detected, the axle lifts, allowing the tractor to operate as a 4×2 for less drag, better fuel efficiency, and reduced tire wear. For full loads, the same axle is lowered to provide additional stability and distribution of the trailer’s weight on the fifth wheel.

To deliver optimal traction, the system’s suspension pressure and ride height are continuously monitored and adjusted to maintain a load bias toward the drive axle.

Three driver-selectable traction control modes are available via a dash-mounted switch: Enhanced Traction maximizes low-speed traction for improved starts, docking, and slippery-road conditions; Optimized Traction, the default setting,  maximizes load to the drive axle, but if wheel slip is detected, the system can temporarily increase load to the drive axle for 30 seconds to provide improved traction; and Basic Traction which lowers the lift axle regardless of suspension load and maintains a 50/50 load split between the lift axle and drive axle during loading or unloading, prolonged stops, or areas that require 50/50 load splits between tandem axles.

During normal operation, control of the lift axle is automatic based on payload. The system offers a manual control feature that enables a driver to raise or lower the suspension for easier landing gear retraction or trailer hook-up respectively.

In other news, the company says that Mack GuardDog Connect, the proactive integrated telematics system, will now monitor critical fault codes for mDrive and mDrive HD automated manual transmissions starting this month.

It will be available for model year 2016 vehicles equipped with OBD (onboard diagnostics) 2015 emissions controls.

GuardDog Connect has been standard on the Mack Pinnacle, Granite, and Titan  models since 2013, and as of this month for TerraPro concrete pumpers.