Pierce Manufacturing

Pierce Manufacturing is a U.S. subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation, based in Appleton, Wisconsin, that manufactures customized fire and rescue apparatus. History Pierce was founded in 1913 by Humphrey Pierce and his son Dudley as the Pierce Auto Body Works Inc., which concentrated on building custom truck bodies for the Ford Model T. The first production facility was designed in 1917 and enlarged in 1918 by architect Wallace W. DeLong. From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Pierce was primarily known for building custom bodies on commercial and other manufacturer's custom chassis and was considered an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In 1996, Pierce was wholly acquired by Oshkosh Corporation. In September 2021, Pierce acquired an ownership interest in fire engine manufacturer Boise Mobile Equipment (BME) of Boise, Idaho. Pierce-Arrow Although the Arrow name was used for its first custom chassis which debuted in 1979, the company has no affiliation with George N. Pierce's famous Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company of Buffalo, New York, which operated from 1901 to 1938. However, the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company coincidentally supplied 8- and 12-cylinder engines to Seagrave for use in their fire apparatus. These engines continued to be made even after Pierce-Arrow ceased operation in 1938. Seagrave continued to deliver fire apparatus with the "Pierce-Arrow" V-12 until 1970. Other Facilities Throughout the years, Pierce has had partnerships with various other manufacturers, notably when it came to aerial devices (it now designs and builds all its own aerial devices in-house). Such aerial manufacturers included Snorkel, Pitman, Aerial Innovations (AI), Ladder Towers Incorporated (LTI), Smeal, Bronto Skylift and Nova Quintech (whose assets Pierce/Oshkosh acquired in 1997). In addition to its main facilities in Wisconsin, it also has facilities in Bradenton, Florida. The Florida facility is a manufacturing site for the custom Saber chassis and Responder line of apparatus. Currently (December 4, 2017) Pierce is the largest manufacturer of firefighting apparatus in the United States. End-users are represented across a larger majority of the planet, including China. The single largest municipal fleet of Pierce Manufacturing apparatus is located within the 407 square miles of Fairfax County, Virginia. (Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department) Products Custom chassis Discontinued Arrow (1980–2002) Contender (1999–2010) Dash (1984–1999) Dash D-8000 (1988–1992) Dash 2000 (1999–2007) Dash CF (2011–2020) Arrow XT (2003-2023) Enforcer (2000–2007; reintroduced in 2014) Javelin (1990–1993) Lance (1985–1993) Lance II (1993–1999) Lance 2000 (1999–2007) Quantum (1995-2023) Commercial chassis Ford Freightliner Kenworth International Peterbilt Apparatus Rearmount and midmount steel aerial ladders Rearmount aluminum aerial ladders Rearmount and midmount steel aerial platforms Rearmount aluminum aerial platforms Tractor drawn steel aerial ladders Telescoping and/or articulating water tower booms Standard and rescue midmount pumpers Standard and rescue rearmount pumpers Pumper-tankers/tankers/tenders and elliptical tankers/tenders Mini pumpers Wildland/brush pumpers (Types 1 through 6) Walk-in and non-walk-in heavy rescues Walk-in and non-walk-in medium rescues Walk-in and non-walk-in light rescues Homeland security vehicles Command, communication, and rehab vehicles Foam proportioning systems Fire Patrol Trucks Pierce Voltera, an electrically-powered truck Gallery References Shapiro, L. Aerial Fire Trucks, Motorbooks International, June 2002. ISBN 0-7603-1065-3 Company History