Hard work, good service and the right trucks are the foundation for concrete fleet

Hard work, a focus on service and the right trucks are what have led to Teeswater Concrete’s success, says company president Jamie Armstrong.

The family-owned business was started in 1977 in Teeswater, Ontario, by Armstrong’s father with just two Mack® trucks. In the years since, it has grown to become a force in the regional construction market.

Armstrong’s father started the business because there was a lot of aggregate on his farm, and he thought that aggregate could be turned into ready-mix concrete. Today the company delivers concrete and aggregate to commercial, industrial, energy and residential customers within 60 miles of its six manufacturing facilities and numerous aggregate properties. “We cover a large part of southwestern Ontario,” Armstrong says.

Currently Teeswater Concrete operates 70-plus Mack Anthem®, Granite® and Pinnacle™ models. Some of the day cabs haul gravel, while others haul 40-foot ready-mix trailers. Some of the Granites are tri-axle dumps that haul 44 tons of gravel, and others are Granite twin steer ready-mix trucks that haul 12 cubic yards of concrete to job sites.

“I was born and raised with Mack trucks,” says Armstrong. “My dad had a real affinity for Mack trucks, and it filtered down to me.”  That affinity even extends to having his Macks in the 2025 Mack Trucks Calendar.

The Macks have proven very reliable for Teeswater Concrete. Armstrong explains that because of the durability of the Mack trucks, the company does not have a pre-set replacement cycle for its trucks. “When the truck is worn out or won’t meet safety regulations, then we switch them out.” A plus during the replacement cycle is that the used truck value of a Mack truck has been better than any other in the construction market, according to Armstrong. “Macks are an overall good value.”

Another big factor in Mack’s favor is that drivers love them. In fact, Armstrong believes having Macks has helped with driver recruitment because drivers think the trucks are better to drive.

It also helps to have a Mack dealer Teeswater Concrete can depend on. “We work closely with our Mack dealer on specs,” says Armstrong. “They have been very helpful and have done a good job keeping us up to date on technology and emissions changes.”

Sean Whelan, account manager at Vision Truck Group, the local truck dealer, says Teeswater Concrete has a strong relationship with them and relies on them for spec’ing advice. For example, when Mack announced it would offer factory-installed twin steer axles, Whelan suggested Armstrong switch to it as it would save time from order date to delivery. Today Armstrong specs all Teeswater Concrete trucks with factory-installed twin steer axles.

In another case, the fleet had been spec’ing Allison automatics on its ready-mix trucks but was using standard transmission on its dump trucks. Whelan explained the features and benefits of Mack’s m DRIVE™ transmission, and Teeswater Concrete has slowly converted their dump trucks to m DRIVE because of their fuel economy and driver acceptance. Today Teeswater Concrete specs the m DRIVE HD, which is specifically designed for vocational applications, such as ready-mix concrete. Operators need a very low first gear ratio to pour concrete curbs, and the m DRIVE HD with its crawler gear addresses the need for low-speed operation.

While Teeswater Concrete handles about 80% of its service in-house, it works closely with Vision to ensure it has the parts it needs. The company has also embraced Mack’s GuardDog® Connect connected vehicle technology to improve uptime, according to Whelan. Armstrong especially likes the feature that sends an email to Teeswater Concrete’s service manager whenever there is an issue occurring with a truck. The same email is sent to the dealership, which allows them to help diagnose the problem and assist in the repair.

This support is another way Armstrong says Mack has been an instrumental part of Teeswater Concrete’s success. “Mack has always had good people in the field to help us,” he says. “A lot of them have construction experience. Over the years, Mack has had people in the field who were able to give advice and help us through challenges if they arose.”

He adds, “On top of that, Mack is known as a good, tough truck for construction. Mack has always been the standard in the construction industry, and we feel that has helped us do business in the construction market.”

Meeting customers’ needs has been critical to Teeswater Concrete’s success. Its customers range from small to large, but Teeswater Concrete makes sure that every customer has its needs addressed. Even though it has some large competitors, Armstrong believes that Teeswater Concrete’s smaller size allows it to be more agile and get closer to the customer.

Teeswater Concrete’s future includes plans to continue to grow, and Mack is part of that plan. In fact, Armstrong says he has a request in to the dealership for pricing on some new vehicles. “Customers like our equipment,” he says. “It makes a statement and promotes our company.”