Construction Trucks
'Mini-Mixers' An Innovation, If Not A Trend
ED THOMAS
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
'Downsizing" became a buzzword during the recent and now-fading (we hope) recession, but not so much in the construction industry, which has remained comparatively healthy throughout the downturn. So what's the deal with the concrete "mini-mixers" you see here?
They illustrate not downsizing, but "right-sizing." In the concrete ready mix business, customers often order "short" loads that are well under the 10- to 11-cubic-yard capacity of common ready mix trucks. Sending out a big truck with two or three yards of concrete is expensive because the cost-per-mile cannot be recouped from the small per-yard revenue. So companies charge an extra fee.
But using medium-duty chassis with smaller mixers cuts costs and can give the owner a competitive edge. Only a few companies in the U.S. are doing this, and we found two: Superior Ready Mix in California and Mini Mix Inc. in Ohio. Each uses similar-size bodies for similar reasons, but on different chassis.
Superior is headquartered in Escondido, north of San Diego, and does business under several names out of a half-dozen locations. It has 11 Peterbilt 330s with 4-yard MTM drums. When it first tried the mini-mixer idea in the mid '90s, it used International 4900s, but has phased them out in favor of Peterbilt 330s. Superior is a predominantly Peterbilt fleet, so the 330s fit in better, explains John Boer, the shop foreman.
Most of Superior's trucks are heavy Model 357s with tandem rears, a booster-type tag axle and 10.5-yard drums; these usually go out with 9.5 to 10 yards of concrete. Several five-axle tractor-trailers can haul 11 or more yards; these usually go to big pours where concrete pumps are on site, though they can also pour directly into a form. The large Peterbilts have Class 8 components, including Cummins ISM and ISL diesels.
The smaller Petes have Cummins ISC diesels, single rear axles and other Class 7 components. They aren't as tall as the larger trucks, but still load at the same plants. For Superior the smaller trucks come in handy in a couple of ways.
"We use them because it gives us the opportunity to train somebody who's new and maybe has never driven a mixer before," says Garret Brouwer, a project manager. "He can start out on the smaller truck and later move up to a big truck.
"Another reason is small loads we tend to send out at the end of the day, when contractors are finishing up jobs and don't need full loads. And there are a lot of residential customers who order smaller loads," for which the mini-mixers are ideal.
Residential customers don't want big, heavy trucks backing up their driveways and crushing the pavement, notes Ken Warby, owner of Mini Mix in Cincinnati. Lighter trucks will almost never damage pavement and are easy on lawns, too. This, and the home owner's need for small loads, are the reasons his company is in business, and has expanded to Dayton, Louisville, Memphis and Atlanta.
Warby got the idea when he worked in the concrete business in his native Australia. "This is a niche. We're in a market for home remodeling, and this is far better suited to it than a big truck," he says of his Class 6 vehicles. "I got laughed at at first, but nobody's laughing now."
He runs nine Hino FE chassis mounting 4-yard bodies that he designed and built himself. His bodies are of a lower profile than off-the-shelf units, which makes his trucks more stable. He buys the drum, hydraulics and other equipment from suppliers in the U.S., Australia and Japan.
Warby operates his own plants built to load the drums, whose funnels are only 8 feet, 6 inches tall. Funnels on big mixer trucks are about 2 feet higher, so plants built for them cannot load his special trucks.
Most concrete orders are for loads of one to four yards, but some are for 10 to 40 yards. Why wouldn't they order from a company that runs bigger trucks? "For that a bigger truck would be more efficient, but what do you want up your driveway?" he answers.
The Hino low-cabovers are easy to drive and maneuver, especially in cramped areas near homes, he says. Because they are Class 6 trucks, his drivers don't need Commercial Driver's Licenses. Hinos are "tough trucks" that give "very few problems," either here or in Australia, where he had previous experience with them.
As far as Hino Trucks USA knows, Warby is the only one using Hinos as mixer chassis. But it does get calls from others interested in the idea; because it sells only chassis, not mixer bodies, it refers them to Warby. Peterbilt, meanwhile, says one other customer is now using 330s as mini-mixers.
While mini-mixers are fairly new and innovative, they do not yet constitute a trend. Mitsubishi Fuso imported a group of trucks complete with Japanese-built mixer bodies, but response was not strong. It has sold 12 units with 3.1-yard drums on model FM-MR chassis, but none of its FE-SP chassis with 1.5-yard drums. Spokesman Joe Devlin says potential customers have made suggestions on equipment details -- they'd like hydraulically operated chutes, for instance -- and "we're learning."
