{"id":178179,"date":"2026-04-28T12:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/178179\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T12:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:28:09","slug":"allentown-joins-cities-suing-over-alleged-fire-truck-monopoly-rising-costs-and-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/178179\/","title":{"rendered":"Allentown joins cities suing over alleged fire truck monopoly, rising costs and delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rudy Miller
The Express-Times<\/p>\n

ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Allentown has joined a growing list of cities suing<\/a> a private equity firm, its subsidiaries and a select few fire truck manufacturers for creating a monopoly on custom fire trucks and chassis.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit<\/a> filed Wednesday in federal court accuses American Industrial Partners <\/a>of buying up struggling fire truck makers and eliminating competitors to create a monopoly.<\/p>\n

| BETTER EVERY SHIFT: How to develop TIC discipline<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAIP disagrees with the allegations in the complaint and intends to defend itself vigorously,\u201d said a spokesperson for the private equity firm based in New York City.<\/p>\n

The suit accuses truck makers of price gouging, consolidating operations, closing plants and creating a backlog for the manufacture of the custom fire apparatus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fire departments do not deserve this,\u201d the suit says. \u201cThe taxpayers those firefighters swear an oath to protect do not deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles sued American Industrial Partners in February, according to a news release<\/a>. So did Milwaukee, a published report<\/a> says. San Diego <\/a>and Portland, Oregon<\/a>, sued earlier this month, according to published reports.<\/p>\n

The International Association of Fire Fighters and the American Economic Liberties Project issued a joint statement<\/a> last year calling for a federal investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot allow Wall Street interests to put profits over public safety,\u201d said IAFF President Edward Kelly <\/a>in the statement<\/a>. Three companies, including one controlled by American Industrial Partners, control two-thirds of the market, according to the statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis consolidation is textbook monopolization \u2014 leading to price gouging, plant closures, and years-long delivery backlogs that put communities in danger,\u201d American Economic Liberties Project Executive Director Nidhi Hegde said in the statement.<\/p>\n

Allentown\u2019s lawsuit says it purchased a custom aerial fire truck for $1.46 million in 2021. By 2023, the same truck cost $2 million, the suit says. The cost of a pumper went from $780,000 to more than $900,000 in four years, the suit says.<\/p>\n

It took 400 days for the city to get the aerial it bought in 2021. The pumper purchased in 2024 had an estimated 1,100-day waiting period.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn just over three years, the delivery window nearly tripled,\u201d the suit says.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit asks a judge to break up the monopoly and award unspecified damages to the City of Allentown.<\/p>\n

The Allentown lawsuit<\/a> was filed by Philadelphia attorney Jerry R. DeSiderato. He will be joined in the lawsuit by Los Angeles attorney Catherine S. Simonsen and San Diego attorney John P. Fiske.<\/p>\n

What are you seeing at your department?How long are your current build times, and how are delays impacting staffing, response or fleet readiness?<\/p>\n

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\"US-NEWS-UNIVERSITY-HOSPITALS-HELPS-SEVEN-HILLS-1-PLD.jpg\"<\/p>\n

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\n Seven Hills firefighters have moved into new private sleeping quarters designed with guidance from University Hospitals Parma Medical Center to improve rest, health and job performance\n <\/p>\n

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\"Bill<\/p>\n

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\n In Oroville, officials say excessive, non-emergency calls are delaying emergency response and pushing the city to consider charging repeat offenders\n <\/p>\n

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\"US<\/p>\n

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\n The Highway 82 Fire in Brantley County was only 7% contained Sunday as officials warned that wind could drive new evacuations\n <\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit lehighvalleylive.com<\/a>.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n This acquisition strengthens WPSG\u2019s presence in Western Pennsylvania and enhances its ability to deliver hands-on service, product expertise, and support to fire departments across the region\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Rudy MillerThe Express-Times ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Allentown has joined a growing list of cities suing a private…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-178179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}