The Brief
- Milwaukee joined a consolidated federal lawsuit accusing the country’s three largest fire truck manufacturers and a trade association of colluding to inflate prices.
- The lawsuit notes that ladder truck prices have doubled since the 2010s, with some fire departments facing wait times of up to four and a half years for new vehicles.
- A manufacturer attributed the rising costs to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and high material expenses.
MILWAUKEE – The City of Milwaukee is fighting fire truck manufacturers, alleging the country’s three largest companies are price-fixing prices.
Fire truck lawsuit
What we know:
Milwaukee is one of many cities saying the companies making fire trucks and a trade group are colluding to inflate their prices. The lawsuit states a pumper truck in the mid-2010s was less than $500,000. Now, the lawsuit says it costs $1 million.
Milwaukee filed the lawsuit in February, but it has been combined with cities across the country – all in front of the federal judge in Green Bay. They are suing the following companies:
- Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh
- Rev Group, Brookfield
- Rosenbauer America, South Dakota
The lawsuit also targets the trade group, Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association.
The lawsuit alleges the manufacturers used the trade group to collude and share nonpublic information. The lawsuit says the cost of ladder trucks have more than doubled since the 2010s.
A U.S. Senate hearing looked at rising costs and a backlog of years to get a new fire truck. …