Peoria has joined a national antitrust case accusing major fire-apparatus manufacturers and private-equity firms of constraining competition, raising prices and lengthening delivery times for fire engines and other emergency vehicles.
The city filed its case Aug. 28 in U.S. District Court in Arizona. The case was transferred Sept. 21 to federal court in Wisconsin, where dozens of related claims are being coordinated as multidistrict litigation. The master docket now lists Peoria among the plaintiffs.
The allegations have not been proven. Manufacturers and other defendants have filed motions challenging claims in the broader litigation, and the court has not reached a decision on the merits of Peoria’s case.
Peoria’s fleet makes the stakes concrete
Peoria’s own capital records show why fire-apparatus pricing matters to a fast-growing West Valley city.
A city infrastructure report valued Peoria’s 78-unit fire fleet at $28.2 million. The inventory included 12 fire engines valued at $985,000 each and three ladder trucks valued at $1.725 million each. The city expects to add vehicles as development increases demand for fire service.
The same report projected 17,709 additional equivalent dwelling units over 10 years. Maintaining Peoria’s existing service level would require the apparatus fleet to grow along with that development, alongside new stations, land and equipment. The report estimated $31.4 million in combined growth-related fire capital costs across those categories.
A separate February 2024 City Council record shows Peoria approved $1,791,504 for a Rosenbauer utility truck and 3,000-gallon water tender after prepayment discounts. Without those discounts, the two vehicles would have cost $1,886,590. The manufacturer’s estimated delivery time was about 20 months.
That order was made well before Peoria filed suit and does not itself establish unlawful conduct. It does document the large sums and extended lead times involved in keeping a municipal fleet current.
What the litigation alleges
Peoria’s complaint names more than two dozen companies and investment entities, including Oshkosh Corp., Pierce Manufacturing, REV Group and several related fire-apparatus businesses. The suit invokes federal antitrust law and requests a jury trial.
The coordinated litigation broadly alleges that consolidation and other conduct reduced competition in the specialized market. The defendants dispute the claims and have sought dismissal of multiple complaints in the larger case.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a separate state investigation on Sept. 9 into potential anticompetitive practices in fire-truck manufacturing. Her office cited reports from Arizona agencies of sharp price increases, long waits and older vehicles remaining in service. The investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing.
What happens next
Peoria’s transferred case is numbered 2:26-cv-01700 in the Eastern District of Wisconsin and is associated with multidistrict litigation 2:26-md-03179. Consolidating related cases allows one federal court to coordinate pretrial proceedings while preserving the individual claims of participating cities and fire agencies.
No damages award or settlement has been entered for Peoria. The next meaningful milestones will come from rulings on the defendants’ challenges, any amended pleadings and the court’s schedule for discovery.
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