ADVANCE HISTORY
1947 - The original concept for a front discharge mixer was designed by a gentleman named Jack Willard. Willard was involved in an accident with a rear discharge truck and during his recovery spent many months thinking about how it could have been avoided. His first conceptual design was in 1947 where Willard was laughed out of business meeting after business meeting for over 15 years.
Insert Royal William Sims from Salt Lake City Utah who bought himself a sand and gravel pit in order to make it easier for his customers and builders to have access to materials coming out of the family owned quarry he worked at.
1964 - the first front discharge mixer was complete, the Sims boys turned the bowl (barrel) around and put the engine in the back, custom-built many of their own parts, and did all of the new electrical work themselves. The finished product earned the name Rite-Way Truck.
The Irving family, local to the Indiana area, and one of the largest producers of concrete even to date, saw the Rite-Way truck in a trade magazine and went straight away to Salt Lake City to meet R.W. Sims. Clearly seeing the many advantages; easy control system, as well as the fact that the chute can be controlled from the cab itself, eliminating the need for additional laborers and that the truck unloads the cement quickly, increasing productivity. The Irving family intended to manufacture the vehicle for themselves, but without all the capabilities to do so, they contracted the work through Hendrickson manufacturing.
1967 - The Irving family began manufacturing the Rite-Way Front Discharge Mixer in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1967. The Irving’s truck was also called the Rite-Way. It was apparent at that time that they could also manufacture the front discharge in Fort Wayne for resale to other concrete producers as well. They built the truck from the frame up. The Rite-Way truck was marketed in such states as Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the New England States.
1968 - R.W. Sims sold Rite-Way several times on contract to Western Steel, Rite-Way International, and others. The Irving Family did well and prospered during this time and because Rite-Way of Indiana, Inc. continued to do well in the marketplace, the rights were sold to Jim Irving in 1968 to continue the partnership with Sims. R.W. Sims looked at Rite-Way of Indiana, Inc after time with greed because of their success in both manufacturing and marketing the Rite-Way Truck. R.W. Sims attempted a hostile takeover of Rite-Way, using his legal rights to the design. He ended up removing the Irving Family from the Rite-Way business.
1972 - The Irvings began to hire many of the Rite-Way employees during the following months after the transaction by R.W. Sims. The new company was formed after all legal rights to the design expired, and the new company Advance Mixer, Inc. was born.
1979 - Advance Mixer produced it's 500th truck.
2002 - Terex Corporation buys Advance Mixer trucks on April 11th, 2002 and purchased it out of bankruptcy for pennies on the dollar. Since then Terex® Advance has done no additional major changes to the original truck design outside of regularly needed modifications and upgrades.
2004 - Terex Advance produces its 15,000th truck. Terex Advance consistently holds a market share between 50-54% and is most notably known for its superior ability to customize its trucks to fit the needs of each individual customer.
To date, the Irving family is still in business, now called Irving Materials Inc (IMI). They are one of the top 3 concrete producing companies in the entire United States and are still locals to the Fort Wayne area, although they have over 40 plants located in 5 states. The Irvings have a great relationship with Terex® and purchase roughly 400 new mixers a year. Together Terex® Advance and IMI will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Front Discharge Mixer this summer 2022 with an open house for their team members and the community.
Check out the video below of our Terex Advance Mixer truck doing a pour in Midland, TX.
