The $19.8 Billion Fire Truck Antitrust War: What Every Department Needs to Know

The Lawsuit That Broke It Open

On August 20, 2025, the City of La Crosse, Wisconsin, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the nation's largest fire truck manufacturers. The complaint, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, named Oshkosh Corporation, Pierce Manufacturing, REV Group, and Rosenbauer America. It also named the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association (FAMA), the industry's trade group, alleging it facilitated collusion through member-only committees.

La Crosse's claims were straightforward: the manufacturers had conspired to inflate prices and restrict supply, violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The city was still operating a 2006 fire truck while waiting years for a replacement.

That filing was the first. It would not be the last.

The Cascade of Lawsuits

Within six months, municipalities across the country followed La Crosse's lead:

October 2025 — The City of Augusta, Maine, and the Newstead Fire Company in New York both filed federal antitrust claims.
December 16, 2025 — The City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed suit, disclosing that it had recently paid approximately $2.38 million for a single fire truck.
December 22, 2025 — The City of Arcadia and additional municipalities filed in Wisconsin.
January 29, 2026 — The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, filed a 100-page complaint estimating that fire truck purchasers nationwide have spent approximately $19.8 billion more than expected based on inflation alone since 2018.
February 12, 2026 — Los Angeles County and the State of California filed a 143-page complaint seeking to unwind the anticompetitive mergers entirely.
February 2026 — The City of Milwaukee sued, disclosing that it had paid more than $20 million for 23 heavy apparatus between 2014 and 2025.

Additional municipalities that have filed or joined suits include Chelsea, Massachusetts; Onalaska, Wisconsin; Philadelphia; Roseland, New Jersey; and Liberty, Missouri. On December 29, 2025, Judge Byron B. Conway consolidated the cases in the Eastern District of Wisconsin as In re: Indirect Purchaser Fire Apparatus Antitrust Litigation.

The Private Equity Roll-Up

To understand the lawsuits, you need to understand the market. The fire apparatus industry wasn't always this concentrated.

In 2006, a private equity firm called American Industrial Partners (AIP) began acquiring independent fire truck manufacturers. By 2010, it had merged Collins Industries, E-ONE, Halcore Group, and Fleetwood Enterprises into a single entity called Allied Specialty Vehicles. In 2015, that entity was renamed REV Group.

Then the acquisitions accelerated. REV Group absorbed KME in 2017, causing its market share to jump from 4.6% to 22.6% overnight. It went on to acquire Ferrara, Spartan, and Smeal. Today, REV Group controls approximately 33% of the U.S. fire truck market under brands that once competed fiercely against each other.

Combined with Oshkosh Corporation/Pierce Manufacturing at roughly 25% and Rosenbauer America at a significant share, the top three manufacturers now control an estimated 70–80% of the U.S. fire truck market.

The LA County complaint alleges that REV Group permanently shut down manufacturing plants after acquiring competitors, reducing its own production capacity by one-third despite rising demand. If true, that's the textbook private equity playbook applied to public safety equipment: buy competitors, reduce supply, raise prices.

The Price Explosion

The numbers in the court filings tell a stark story.

A standard pumper/engine that cost $300,000 to $500,000 in the mid-2010s now runs over $1 million. Ladder and aerial trucks that once cost $750,000 to $900,000 now approach $2 million. Costs have, as the LA County complaint states, "doubled in many instances."

Specific examples from the lawsuits and public records:

Ann Arbor, MI: ~$2.38 million for a single truck
Evanston, IL: $2.3 million for a Pierce mid-mount ladder truck (2024)
Homewood, IL: $1,385,000 for a Pierce Enforcer (January 2025)
Milwaukee: $20+ million for 23 apparatus over a decade

Delivery timelines have ballooned alongside prices. Historical lead times of 12–18 months have stretched to 4 to 4.5 years in some cases. REV Group reported a $4 billion production backlog. Oshkosh reported $5.3 billion globally.

Departments are also being pushed into "floating price" contracts, where the final cost of a truck can increase after an order is placed. Manufacturers have allegedly used the industry-wide backlog as justification for raising prices mid-production. And the LA County complaint alleges that Oshkosh requires Pierce customers to purchase only Pierce proprietary parts, even when cheaper alternatives exist.

The Senate Hearing

On September 10, 2025, the Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Management held a hearing titled "Sounding the Alarm: America's Fire Apparatus Crisis" — the first congressional hearing focused solely on fire apparatus in at least 30 years.

Witnesses included REV Group's SVG President Mike Virnig, Pierce Manufacturing VP of Sales Dan Meyer, IAFF President Edward Kelly, Kansas City KS Fire Chief Dennis Rubin, and antitrust attorney Basel Musharbash.

The testimony was pointed. Senators confronted the manufacturers with data showing that REV Group's CEO earned $6 million in compensation, that the company's profit margin had "more than doubled," and that orders had increased 43% from 2022 to 2023 while production capacity was being reduced.

IAFF President Kelly warned the subcommittee that the apparatus monopoly was "jeopardizing public safety."

Government Investigations

The lawsuits have triggered government action at multiple levels:

April 15, 2025 — Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jim Banks (R-IN) opened a bipartisan investigation into private equity's role in fire truck manufacturing consolidation.
May 13, 2025 — The IAFF and the American Economic Liberties Project sent a joint letter urging the DOJ and FTC to investigate and requesting a formal FTC market study.
February 13, 2026 — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued Civil Investigative Demands to REV Group, Oshkosh Corporation, and Rosenbauer Group, opening a state-level antitrust investigation.

As of February 2026, the DOJ and FTC have not publicly commented on a formal investigation, but the Procurement Collusion Strike Force framework — which Paxton joined on January 29, 2026 — provides the federal infrastructure for one.

The Real-World Consequences

Price increases and delivery delays aren't abstract problems. They directly affect whether firefighters have the tools they need to do the job.

During the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, the LAFD had 183 trucks out of commission — more than half the fleet. The department's budget had been cut by $17.6 million, eliminating mechanic positions critical for apparatus repair. When a city can't afford new trucks and can't get parts to fix old ones, the result is exactly what Los Angeles experienced.

Kansas City, Kansas, lost 5 of its 15 pumper trucks in the summer of 2023 due to repair needs and parts delays. In Chicago, a tower ladder truck stalled during a deadly house fire rescue — firefighters had to restart the truck to raise the ladder. In Boston, a ladder truck lost brakes at 68 mph, an incident that killed Lieutenant Kevin Kelley.

Some departments have had to lay off firefighters or cancel training programs to cover apparatus cost increases. Others are operating trucks well past their recommended retirement age. In some jurisdictions, already-understaffed departments are responding to emergencies in pickup trucks because their apparatus can't be replaced.

What the Manufacturers Say

All three major manufacturers have denied the allegations. REV Group called the suits "meritless." Oshkosh Corporation stated the lawsuit is "without merit," adding that the company has "a long history of reinvesting in our businesses, driving organic growth, enhancing efficiency and expanding capacity to better serve our customers." Rosenbauer's legal counsel stated the company "strongly disagrees" with the claims.

No settlements have been reached in any of the cases as of February 2026. All litigation is ongoing.

What This Means for Your Department

Whether or not the antitrust claims ultimately succeed in court, the underlying market dynamics are not in dispute: fire apparatus costs have increased dramatically, delivery times have lengthened substantially, and the number of independent manufacturers has decreased significantly through consolidation.

For fire chiefs and administrators managing capital budgets, several practical considerations apply:

Document your costs. If your department has purchased apparatus in the past decade, those records may be relevant to the class action litigation. The consolidated case covers indirect purchasers — meaning departments that bought through dealers or intermediaries, not just direct from the manufacturer.
Evaluate cooperative purchasing. Some departments are exploring group purchasing agreements and state contracts that provide modest leverage against list pricing.
Consider lifecycle costs. With new apparatus costs this high, fleet maintenance and lifecycle extension become increasingly important. Departments that invested in maintenance infrastructure are better positioned to weather extended delivery timelines.
Watch the litigation. The consolidated class action will determine whether departments are entitled to damages for overcharges. If the plaintiffs prevail, the treble damages provision of antitrust law means recovery could be significant.

The Bigger Picture

The fire apparatus antitrust litigation is the largest in the history of the fire service. It touches every department in the country that has purchased or attempted to purchase a fire truck in the past decade. The Wyandotte County complaint's estimate of $19.8 billion in excess costs nationwide puts the scale in perspective.

This is also a story about what happens when essential public safety infrastructure gets treated like a private equity portfolio. When three companies control 70–80% of a market that serves 27,000 fire departments with no substitute product, the incentive structure is clear. Prices go up. Supply goes down. And the communities that depend on fire protection pay the difference — literally.

The courts will ultimately decide whether antitrust law was violated. In the meantime, departments are adapting — stretching budgets, extending fleet life, seeking grants to offset costs, and watching the litigation that could reshape the fire apparatus market for a generation.

Sources and Further Reading

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of USA Fire Departments (USFireDept.com). This content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as official policy, endorsement, or recommendation.