Skyrocketing Apparatus Costs and outrageous delivery times.

Capttomo

Capttomo

Joined
Sep 7, 2020
Messages
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Although we are in a period of economic inflation, and we did suffer chip shortages and other material shortages last year, The price of new fire apparatus has skyrocketed and the lead times for delivery from date the order is placed to final inspection has gone from 10-12 months to greater than 2 years in many cases and in some cases approaching 3 years. In some cases, Manufacturer's will take your order but will not finalize the purchase price on the rig until actual construction begins which could be 12-18 months after placing the order. This is making it very difficult for fire departments to budget for and determine which fiscal year the actual purchase will be charged to.

How many others are experiencing these and similar problems regarding apparatus purchases? What are the reasons behind these delays? Supply chain?, Can't find enough qualified workers to build fire apparatus, shortage of drivetrains nationwide? Looking for feedback, experiences, and insight to share with everyone. Stay safe.
 
My town had a 75' Quint ordered from one of the REV Group companies. Late 2022 they added 15 months to the delivery time. Good friend was at their factory on a final inspection. He said they have partially assembled cabs staged in one area and partially assembled bodies staged in another area. Lack of qualified help was their biggest complaint. If we didn't beat these rigs to death on shoe runs ( EMS calls ) they would last longer.
 
In Cincinnati, they've had to use spare apparatus' for periods of several months while waiting on essential parts for the trucks. They've been continuing to use trucks that have dents in them that don't affect the firefighters' ability to use the truck. I saw a ladder truck that had one of the doors for an equipment compartment was missing and thus that compartment couldn't be used and whatever was stored in there had to be put in a different compartment on the truck. I also saw an interview on the news from an official with the CFD saying that it now takes up to two years from the time a new truck is purchased until it arrives and is able to be placed into service.
 
It doesn't seem overly surprising with the delays and increased pricing. Since cars started seeing that fate in 2020 and continuing through today. Only logical that any automotive apparatus be similarly impacted including fire, EMT, PD. I wouldn't be surprised if same is true in the airline industry with aircraft and all the supporting vehicles.
 
My job is in the process of specing a new rescue, we sat down with Pierce last week, 48 months. For a very cookie cutter rescue body on a normal Enforcer chassis, being told 48 is the going time for any new orders. It also came in without any interior customization really and a single axle walk around at $850k.
 
Sfdc111 said:
My job is in the process of specing a new rescue, we sat down with Pierce last week, 48 months. For a very cookie cutter rescue body on a normal Enforcer chassis, being told 48 is the going time for any new orders. It also came in without any interior customization really and a single axle walk around at $850k.
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Wow. Didn’t know it was that bad …. 4 years now. Thanks for sharing
 
We've all had these things happen and seen them happen in other areas but I don't believe I've never really heard an explanation for the extreme changes in delivery times. Costs are one thing in inflation and shortages certainly aren't helping that, but the long delivery times is becoming a problem in many situations.
 
In the past two years, we have ordered 2-2000 gallon pumper tankers, 1-midi pumper and none have been delivered, better yet the chassis have not been delivered. The midi was first and they still don't have the 4 door chassis. The two tanker pumpers ordered in August 2022 have a 435 day waiting period on the chassis alone. Rosenbauer is our builder and Freightliner is the chassis except for the Midi which is Ford. So once received the rigs could technically be 2-3 years old.
 
CFDMarshal said:
In the past two years, we have ordered 2-2000 gallon pumper tankers, 1-midi pumper and none have been delivered, better yet the chassis have not been delivered. The midi was first and they still don't have the 4 door chassis. The two tanker pumpers ordered in August 2022 have a 435 day waiting period on the chassis alone. Rosenbauer is our builder and Freightliner is the chassis except for the Midi which is Ford. So once received the rigs could technically be 2-3 years old.
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Wow. Thanks for sharing
 
CFDMarshal said:
Side note the cost on the tankers had increased so much that they normally come equipped. Had to cut and use that money for the increase in cost from bid till award since it exceeded 30 days.
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We hit a price increase just prior to signing for our tanker in production, went up i want to $20,000 overnight. Our tanker is a Spartan cab & chassis, 4 guys body, our chassis was supposed to be done early September, they are just finishing trucks that were expected last July.
 
My department ran into issues when ordering an ambulance. We usually order Freightliner chassis, but we’re told 2-3 years lead time so we ended up with a Ford truck chassis. We were told April and in a strange turn of events it will be done this month. I’m not sure how that happened but we’re not complaining. However the cost did go up about $75k over our normal cost.
 
AYoung said:
My department ran into issues when ordering an ambulance. We usually order Freightliner chassis, but we’re told 2-3 years lead time so we ended up with a Ford truck chassis. We were told April and in a strange turn of events it will be done this month. I’m not sure how that happened but we’re not complaining. However the cost did go up about $75k over our normal cost.
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That’s bizarre. Glad you guys are getting your rescue quicker than promised. $$$$ increase is probably close to 25% of original cost???? I really wonder if these price increases are completely justified. Most of these companies keep posting impressive profits Thanks for sharing. Stay safe
 
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