The milestone truck, a Commander Series FD4000 with all-wheel drive and a 385 hp Cummins X12, is headed to ready-mix producer Ernst Concrete
Front-discharge mixers are a mostly North American answer to a simple problem: letting the driver place concrete from the cab, without a ground crew guiding a rear chute. Advance, a Terex brand, has been building them since the 1970s, and it has now produced its 20,000th.
The milestone unit is a Commander Series FD4000, built for Ernst Concrete, one of the largest family-owned ready-mix suppliers in the United States, serving commercial, residential, industrial and public infrastructure projects across the Midwest and South-East.
The FD4000
The Commander Series is designed for difficult terrain. It is available in 10 axle configurations, with all-wheel drive as standard.
The FD4000 has front and rear tandem drive axles, disc brakes and an improved front axle wheel cut for tighter manoeuvring. A lightweight rear tandem axle accepts both super single and dual tyre configurations. Power comes from a Cummins X12 diesel with 385 hp and 1,450 lb-ft of torque.
“Producing our 20,000th front-discharge mixer is an important milestone for ADVANCE and a testament to the dedication of our team, the loyalty of our customers and the strength of the product we have built over more than 50 years,” said Dave Grabner, General Manager of Advance.
From the Rite-Way to today
The story goes back almost 80 years, to Jack Willard’s idea of a better way to deliver concrete. It led to the original Rite-Way Truck in 1964 and to the founding of Advance in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1972. The 20,000th truck shows how far that idea has travelled in the North American ready-mix market.
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