ST. GEORGE — The St. George Fire Department filed a lawsuit against fire truck manufacturers after the city of Baton Rouge filed lawsuits against the same companies.

According to the lawsuit, American Industrial Partners created Defendant REV Group in 2015 from the merger of several companies, including E-ONE. St. George alleged that these companies have imposed restraints on subsidiary manufacturers and dealer networks that restrict competition, keeping Louisiana purchasers from independent competitive alternatives. 

Restraints include the elimination of geographic overlap between competing subsidiary manufacturers to give various dealer networks exclusive control across vast territories, the assignment of exclusive geographic dealer territories, the elimination of geographic overlap between dealers of the same brand and the consolidation of dealer networks through acquisitions.

In 2017, REV Group purchased Ferrara, which is located in Holden. Prior to the acquisition, Ferrara was E-ONE and other REV Group brands' direct competitor in the southern United States. 

The elimination of Ferrara as an independent competitor reduced the number of meaningfully independent fire apparatus manufacturers available to Louisiana purchasers and strengthened REV Group's ability to coordinate pricing across its brands within the Louisiana market. 

St. George claimed that REV Group ceased to support subsidiary independence and explicitly portrayed itself as "an industry consolidator" using common designs that can be shared across brands. The group also allegedly informed investors of its strategy to eliminate geographic overlaps between the marketing of its different fire-truck brands and dealers. 

Oshkosh was accused of practicing the same strategy of consolidation, acquiring Boise Mobile Equipment and Maxi-Metal, Inc., leaving it in control of a full quarter of the U.S. fire truck market. 

Pierce Manufacturing also had a similar practice, leading it to gain control over the upper Midwest market in 2018 and the Southwest market in 2019, allegedly eliminating competition amongst its subsidiaries. 

Rosenbauer America followed suit, assigning its dealers non-overlapping territories.

The defendants, all a part of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association, are accused of cooperating rather than competing.

According to the lawsuit, REV Group's Vice President of Sales in the Fire Group, Mike Virnig, is quoted stating, "What I won't tolerate is negative selling. I won't tolerate it with our competitors, and I won't tolerate it within the group. If I even get a hint or see anything like a dealer taking a shot at another dealer, we step in and say, 'Stop it.'"

The lawsuit states that FAMA maintains a digital data portal through which manufacturers enter economic data, which is then sent to an accounting firm, returned to the Data and Research Committee and then uploaded onto the FAMA website under a "members-only section."

FAMA imposes strict limits on who can become a member, with eligibility barred for fire departments, municipalities and other buyers as only manufacturers have the ability to meet the requirements. 

St. George accused the companies of exchanging sensitive information and coordinating supply restrictions and price hikes during its members-only meetings.

The lawsuit also alleges that while prices have risen, production has not kept up with demand.

Rev Group reported a record $3.6 billion backlog in 2023, a 41% increase from 2022. As of October, the company has a $4 billion backlog on fire and emergency vehicle orders. 

Oshkosh's backlog of fire truck orders quadrupled from 2019 to 2023, the suit says, reaching around $4 billion. Rosenbauer reported an approximately $2.67 billion backlog at the end of 2024, according to the suit.

REV Group captures approximately $1 billion of the roughly $3 billion in annual U.S. fire truck sales, according to the lawsuit, while Oshkosh captures about $750 million and Rosenbauer around $307 million.

St. George claims that the only alternatives to buying from these companies are other companies affiliated with the FAMA group and their dealers who control 100% of the Louisiana fire truck market. 

The Baton Rouge Fire Department currently operates a fleet almost entirely composed of Ferrara fire trucks, while the New Orleans Fire Department, the largest municipal fire department in the state, operates a fleet composed entirely of Pierce Enforcer-model apparatus.