A fire truck that cost Tacoma $500,000 a decade ago now runs $1 million, and the city says three corporate manufacturers are to blame.

Tacoma filed a federal antitrust lawsuit June 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, accusing REV Group, Oshkosh Corporation, Rosenbauer and more than two dozen affiliated companies of monopolizing the fire apparatus market.

The city demanded a jury trial.

The case, City of Tacoma v. REV Group LLC et al., was consolidated the next day into broader multidistrict proceedings involving about 60 other local governments, including Los Angeles County, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Portland.

The lawsuit lands as Tacoma confronts a projected $40 million structural deficit in its General Fund for the 2027-2028 biennium. The city maintains 20 engine and ladder trucks, and a city procurement document shows Rosenbauer apparatus accounts for more than 40% of the fire department's frontline fleet, according to CPI/PYMNTS.

What the lawsuit alleges

The consolidated amended complaint, reported by the News Tribune, claims fire apparatus prices have doubled since the mid-2010s, with specialized vehicles jumping from $900,000 to more than $2 million.

Wait times for new trucks ballooned from 18 months to more than four years over the same period.

Three corporate groups control more than 70% of U.S. fire truck production, according to Young & Partners, LLP, the law firm representing some public entities in the litigation.

According to court filings, REV Group alone captures roughly $1 billion of the approximately $3 billion annual U.S. market. Oshkosh takes about $750 million, and Rosenbauer about $307 million.

The complaint alleges manufacturers used the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association to exchange pricing and backlog data and coordinate price increases. Municipalities and fire departments were not eligible to join the association or access that data.

Defendants push back

The manufacturers deny violating antitrust laws. In a joint court filing Monday, Aug. 17, the defendants argued the claims amount to speculation, attributing price increases and delays to pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and demand spikes.

Dan Meyer, vice president of sales for Oshkosh subsidiary Pierce Manufacturing, told a U.S. Senate subcommittee in September 2025 that neither Oshkosh nor Pierce had acquired any other U.S.-based fire truck manufacturer. "As supply chains were strained and costs increased during the pandemic, our customers took a hit, and we did too," Meyer said in that testimony. "Now, the rate of price increases has slowed significantly as inflation has leveled, and demand and lead times have begun to normalize."

Budget pressure in Tacoma

The city declined Thursday, Aug. 20, to quantify the direct financial hit from the alleged antitrust violations, citing its practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

But the fiscal backdrop is stark: city expenditures are growing at 4.8% annually against revenue growth of just 2.9%, and a hiring freeze is projected to save about $7.4 million across general government in 2026.

Tacoma City Councilmember Sandesh Sadalge captured the budget strain at a July 7 study session on the city's deficit recovery plan. "It is not because we waste money, because wasting money implies we have money to waste, and we do not," Sadalge said.

What happens next

The case is in early pretrial proceedings. The court has established a schedule for motions to dismiss, though specific hearing dates have not been confirmed. On the federal level, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks filed a bipartisan resolution July 21 directing the Federal Trade Commission to investigate "serial acquisitions" of fire truck manufacturers.

The existence of the lawsuits does not constitute a finding that the companies violated antitrust law. Tacoma residents can track the case under MDL 3179, In re: Fire Apparatus Antitrust Litigation, before Judge William C. Griesbach in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.