ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania city is the latest to file suit against fire truck manufacturers over antitrust concerns as they say costs continue to balloon and delivery delays grow.
Allentown, Pennsylvania’s third largest city, filed a federal lawsuit on April 22 against numerous apparatus manufacturers alleging monopolistic and anticompetitive practices.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleges the manufacturers “have imposed extraordinary price increases and other worsening of terms on fire departments, taxpayers, cities, and counties.
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The manufacturers include the REV Group, its parent American Industrial Partners, and its subsidiaries, including KME, Spartan, Ferrara, and Smeal; the Oshkosh Corporation, Pierce Manufacturing, and Boise Mobile Equipment.
Allentown contends that nearly a dozen once-independent companies were consolidated into REV Group, followed by the closure of plants in Roanoke, Va. and Nesquehoning. Those closures, the city alleges, ballooned a production backlog while corporate officials celebrated “price realization.”
The city also alleged that price increases have far outpaced inflation and COVID supply chain challenges.
“Our fire departments do not deserve this. Our firefighters do not deserve this,” the complaint states. “The taxpayers those firefighters swear an oath to protect do not deserve this.”
Allentown’s lawsuit follows a similar suit brought against the same defendants by Los Angeles County in California in February.
“Los Angeles County will not allow companies to exploit the fire truck market at taxpayers’ expense,” said Los Angeles County Board Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “These companies have driven up prices, delayed deliveries to unprecedented lengths, and forced our communities to shoulder the cost. Fire trucks are essential to protecting public safety, and we are taking action to hold these companies accountable, recover overcharges, and ensure fair competition so taxpayers are never left paying more for the tools our first responders need.”
“The LA County Fire Department has experienced dramatic price increases and long delays in receiving delivery of fire trucks,” said LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone. “These market conditions strain our budget and are a wasteful diversion of public funds needed to support our mission of protecting lives, environment and property.”
According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, the union representing most, if not all, professional firefighters in the U.S., Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Rev Group, Oshkosh, and Rosenbauer, citing price fixing concerns.