The Contender series was a line of fire trucks built by Pierce Manufacturing. Intended as a budget option, Contender trucks were built with standard features that were the most common on fire trucks. They were built at Pierce's Bradenton, Florida plant. Many were built on commercial chassis (notably Kenworth, but also Freightliner, International, and Ford), but from 1999 to 2010, a Contender Custom chassis based on the Saber was also available.
The Contender Series was replaced by the FXP Program and FXT Program line of fire trucks.
In February 2018, Maxi Métal announced that along with its partnership with Pierce its' TME and PIC apparatus would now be available in the United States through Pierce dealers. The apparatus would be marketed under the branding “Contender by Maxi Métal”.
Following the June 2022 acquisition of Maxi Metal by Oshkosh Corporation, the “Contender by Maxi Métal” branding was discontinued.