The city of Tacoma, Washington, has sued a group of fire-truck manufacturers and their corporate owners, joining a widening antitrust fight in which US municipalities allege consolidation in the specialized emergency-vehicle industry has reduced competition and driven up the cost of essential firefighting equipment.
Tacoma filed its complaint June 22 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, according to federal court records. The case, City of Tacoma v. REV Group LLC et al., names more than two dozen corporate defendants and seeks damages under federal antitrust law. The city also demanded a jury trial.
The lawsuit includes REV Group and several affiliated manufacturers, as well as Oshkosh Corp. and its Pierce Manufacturing unit. Other defendants include companies connected with American Industrial Partners and fire-apparatus businesses including E-ONE, Ferrara, Spartan, Smeal, KME and Boise Mobile Equipment, according to the federal docket.
The Tacoma case has already been consolidated with broader multidistrict proceedings known as In re: Fire Apparatus Antitrust Litigation, according to court records. US District Judge William C. Griesbach ordered the consolidation on June 23, a day after Tacoma filed its complaint.
The litigation is part of a much larger challenge to the economics of the US fire-apparatus business. Dozens of cities and counties have brought claims against manufacturers amid complaints about sharply higher prices and lengthy delivery delays, according to an Aug. 18 report by Stateline. That report identified REV Group, Pierce Manufacturing and Rosenbauer among major participants in the market.
Similar lawsuits shed more light on the allegations Tacoma is joining. In a complaint filed by Milwaukee, plaintiffs alleged that manufacturers used the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association to exchange competitively sensitive information and coordinate restrictions on production that increased fire-truck prices. Those remain allegations and have not been established as fact.
A separate Los Angeles County complaint describes a market in which relatively few manufacturers remain capable of producing custom fire apparatus and chassis. That filing says Rosenbauer, Sutphen, Seagrave, HME Ahrens-Fox and US Fire Apparatus are among companies that continue to manufacture their own custom chassis, while alleging that some competitors lack enough capacity to absorb orders left unfilled by larger manufacturers.
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Read more: Lawsuits Accuse Major Fire Truck Companies of Coordinating to Raise Prices
Tacoma itself has previously purchased equipment from several companies operating in the market. In a city procurement document, Tacoma officials said Rosenbauer apparatus accounted for more than 40% of the fire department’s frontline fleet. A competitive evaluation also listed bids from Oshkosh’s Pierce Manufacturing, REV Group’s E-ONE, Maxi-Metal and several independent manufacturers.
The case comes as local governments face an unusual procurement problem: fire engines and aerial trucks are highly specialized products that can take years to design, manufacture and deliver. The plaintiffs in the broader litigation contend that industry consolidation has made those constraints worse, leaving municipalities with fewer alternatives when replacing aging emergency vehicles.
The manufacturers are contesting the litigation. The federal court established a schedule calling for defendants’ motions to dismiss, followed by plaintiffs’ responses and defense replies, according to the Tacoma docket. The existence of the lawsuits and the consolidation of the cases don’t constitute findings that the companies violated antitrust law.
Tacoma’s action follows similar suits brought by governments across the country. Court records in another case identify municipalities including Tucson, Bellingham, Oakland, Portland, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Tempe and Yonkers, as well as counties and fire-protection districts, among plaintiffs participating in the consolidated proceedings.
The Tacoma lawsuit was first reported locally by The News Tribune, which described the city as alleging a multiyear effort to monopolize the fire-truck market. The underlying federal docket independently confirms Tacoma’s June filing, its antitrust nature and the defendants named in the action.
The case is City of Tacoma v. REV Group LLC et al., No. 1:26-cv-01106, US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Source: The News Tribune
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