Mesa to sue over fire truck prices | News | themesatribune.com
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Mesa council last week gave the green light for the city to sue two major fire truck manufacturers, accusing them of working together to drive up costs.
(file photo)
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Mesa is going after major fire apparatus manufacturers for allegedly colluding to drive up the cost of fire trucks and extending delivery times.<br>Council last week without comment agreed to retain legal counsel to sue the manufacturers, namely REV Group, LLC and Oshkosh Corporation. Mayor Mark Freeman and Councilman Francisco Heredia were absent.
Mesa council last week gave the green light for the city to sue two major fire truck manufacturers, accusing them of working together to drive up costs.
(file photo)
“A lawsuit will allow the city to seek compensation for the overcharges on fire apparatuses purchased since 2023 due to these alleged anti-competitive practices,” City Attorney Jim Smith told council in a memo.<br>Coincidentally, on Monday’s council agenda is a request to spend $1.7 million using bond dollars for an E-One Cyclone custom cab utility truck for Mesa Fire and Medical Department. Delivery is expected to take two to three years.<br>The truck is essential as it provides on-scene air supply, portable lighting for nighttime and low-visibility incidents, and rehabilitation support to ensure firefighter health and safety during extended operations, according to the city.<br>The department’s current truck, a 2003 model, has exceeded its reliable service life with 131,000 miles and will be traded, auctioned or sold.<br>Tempe, Gilbert and Tucson also are suing.<br>A City of Mesa spokesman said the city attorney’s office has entered into an agreement to retain outside counsel for the suit and there will be no upfront or direct cost to the City. Outside counsel will receive a percentage of any award and if there is no recovery, the City will not owe the firm a fee.<br>According to Smith, over 40 cities, counties and fire districts across the county have sued the two manufacturers and their affiliates, asserting antitrust and anti-competition claims arising under federal and state statutes.<br>Smith said that the claims are based on REV Group and Oshkosh Corp. acquiring and merging small and large fire apparatus competitors and key companies in the fire apparatus supply chain into two dominant companies in the fire apparatus market.<br>The lawsuits allege this consolidation allowed these companies to cut supply, raise prices beyond a reasonable measure of inflation, delay deliveries, and restrict competitive options without consequence, Smith said.<br>He added that the claims also allege that these manufacturing giants have doubled their profit margins and, in the case of REV Group paid multi-million-dollar cash dividends to investors, while fire departments have struggled to obtain apparatuses and replacement parts at fair, competitive prices and within reasonable timelines necessary to serve their communities.
The International Association of Fire Fighters and American Economic Liberties Project first sounded the alarm in May 2025 with a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, urging them to investigate and take action against the consolidation in fire and emergency vehicle manufacturers.<br>The exorbitant price increases have strained fire department budgets, forcing some of them to cancel essential training, lay off firefighters and keep aging trucks in service even longer, according to IAFF and AELP.<br>This prompted a U.S. Senate subcommittee to convene a public hearing in September 2025 to address the issue.<br>Edward Kelly, IAFF general president, testified on the harmful effects of the consolidation in the fire apparatus industry.<br>“The cost of fire trucks has doubled over the past decade, with pumper trucks now costing around $1 million and ladder trucks exceeding $2 million in some areas,” Kelly told senators.<br>“Manufacturers wield their market power to impose surprise price hikes after order placement through ‘floating’ price terms. Despite higher prices, output appears to be restricted, with wait times in some areas more than quadrupling, from one year to 4.5 years.”<br>According to Kelly, many municipalities rely on bonds for major capital expenditures but when a single apparatus costs over $1 million, that spending must compete with other necessary municipal spending.<br>Kelly also said that during the January 2025 wildfires in California, over 100...