The IAFF and the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) are pushing the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission to investigate three fire apparatus manufacturers for possible antitrust business practices they believe have led to high prices and long wait times.
In a joint letter, they say business practices conducted by REV Group, Oshkosh, and Rosenbauer are putting fire fighters and the public at unnecessary risk.
“Consolidation among fire apparatus manufacturers, largely controlled by private equity profiteers, is driving up costs and delays of critical vehicles,” General President Edward Kelly said in a statement. “In the meantime, fire fighters are left using old, unsafe apparatus to respond to emergencies in communities across America.
“We cannot allow Wall Street interests to put profits over public safety.”
According to news reports, American Industrial Partners, a private equity group, bought several struggling apparatus companies and named the consolidated company REV Group. Oshkosh and Rosenbauer followed a similar path.
Today, the three companies control about two-thirds of the market.
“This consolidation is textbook monopolization — leading to price gouging, plant closures, and years-long delivery backlogs that put communities in danger,” Nidhi Hegde, AELP Executive Director, said in a statement. “It’s time for antitrust enforcers to act before this chokehold on emergency infrastructure does even more damage to fire departments across the nation.”
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The IAFF is collecting stories from the field about rising apparatus costs and delays. Share your department’s experiences to support our efforts in advocating for the prompt delivery of reliable, affordable equipment.
The cost of an average engine truck has grown from $300,000-$500,000 in the mid-2010s to over $1 million today. Ladder truck prices have doubled, now costing as much as $2 million.
When departments do purchase new apparatus, they must confront long lead times for delivery. “Output appears to be restricted, with wait times in some areas more than quadrupling from one year to 4.5 years,” the IAFF and AELP wrote.
Manufacturers have blamed the COVID pandemic for creating supply chain issues and rising prices. But records show that the REV Group, for example, had a $1 billion backlog in apparatus production before the pandemic. Their U.S. backlog ballooned to $4.2 billion in 2024.
Despite the strong demand, an analysis by antitrust lawyer Basel Musharbash showed that neither REV Group nor Oshkosh have made any significant investment to boost their capacity and reduce delays.
“The ongoing persistence of extreme lag times suggests that something other than pandemic supply disruptions caused the backlogs, given that most such disruptions in other industries were resolved far earlier,” the IAFF and AELP wrote in their letter urging an antitrust probe.
The letter asks the federal agencies to “investigate and take appropriate action” into leading fire and emergency vehicle manufacturers. It also calls on the FTC to use its investigatory powers to study what other bottlenecks fire departments face for parts, supplies, services, and how the companies may be using their market power to impose barriers or restrictions on fire departments to procure adequate equipment.
“Communities across the country depend on the timely availability of reliable firefighting services,” the IAFF and AELP wrote. “Taking vigorous, immediate action is essential to slash wasteful local government spending, redirect the savings to creating good, non-offshorable American jobs in firefighting – and ultimately, save lives, homes, and entire communities.
“We urge the DOJ and FTC to launch investigations immediately and bring appropriate enforcement actions accordingly.”
Last month, Senators Jim Banks (R-IN) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) opened a bipartisan investigation into private equity’s role in fire truck manufacturing. Separately, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) sent a letter to the CEOs of REV Group, Oshkosh, and Rosenbauer asking about the increased prices and delivery delays.
