BATON ROUGE — The city of Baton Rouge has filed a lawsuit against several major fire truck manufacturers, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices and restrict supply in Louisiana.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 10 in the 19th Judicial District Court, names Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., REV Group, Inc., Oshkosh Corporation, Pierce Manufacturing, Inc., Rosenbauer America, LLC and the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association as defendants.

The city says the defendants worked together to artificially raise fire truck prices and limit production, forcing municipalities to pay more and wait longer for new equipment.

According to the petition, the city has purchased at least 18 fire trucks from Ferrara and at least two from Pierce since 2016, all of which it says were affected by the alleged price-fixing conspiracy.

The lawsuit claims the defendants used the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association, known as FAMA, to share sensitive pricing and sales data that competitors would not normally exchange in a competitive market.

The suit alleges FAMA held twice-yearly members-only meetings and shared detailed economic data through a secure portal that buyers, including municipalities, cannot access. 

The city says this information gap gave the fire truck companies an advantage over buyers and allowed them to coordinate price increases and limit production without detection.

The petition points to ballooning order backlogs as evidence of supply suppression. According to the lawsuit, REV Group had a $3.6 billion backlog in late 2023, a 41 percent increase over 2022, and a $4.4 billion backlog as of October 2025.

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 petition.

The city says fire trucks that should have been retired after 15 or 20 years are now being kept in service for 30 years because replacements are too expensive or unavailable.

The petition also alleges that REV Group acquired Ferrara in April 2017 for $100.1 million, reducing competition in the Louisiana fire apparatus market by absorbing what had been an independent local manufacturer.

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.

The city says the defendants together account for nearly all fire apparatus sold to Louisiana public purchasers since at least 2016, with no independent manufacturer winning a Louisiana fire apparatus contract in the reviewed period.

The city is seeking damages including treble damages, disgorgement of profits, restitution and a permanent injunction to stop the alleged anticompetitive conduct. It is also reserving the right to seek a temporary restraining order during the case.

On July 21, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, joined by Sen. Jim Banks, introduced Senate Joint Resolution 201, directing the Federal Trade Commission to investigate anticompetitive practices in the fire truck manufacturing industry. That resolution is currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.