Registry No. 1314-02 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

PRO,POSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

I 

FOR THE 

MOTOR FIRE APPARATUS 

INDUSTRY 

AS SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 29, 1933 

The Code for the Motor Fire Apparatus Industry 

in[its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned 

industry, and none of the provisions contained therein are 

to be regarded as having received the approval of 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1933 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - -

( I { 

- - - Price 5 cen~s 

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dent in his discretion deems necessary to effectuate the policy declared 

in said Act. · 

(4) That the employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and 

shall be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers 

of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or 

in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purposeof 

collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. 

(5} That no employee and no one seeking employment shall be 

required as a condition of employment to join any company union 

or to refrain from joining, organizing; or assisting a labor organization of his own choosing. 

(6) That employers shall comply with the maximum hours of 

labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment, 

approved or prescribed by the President. 

(7) That it is clearly understood that nothing in this Code shall 

impair in any particular the Constitutional rights of the employer 

to protect his business and property from the unlawful activities of 

o.thers. 

(8) ·Nothing in this Code is to impair the Constitutional rights of 

employers to freedom in the selection, retention, and advancement of 

employees. 

(9). That the President may from time to time cancel or modify 

any order, approval, license, rule, or regulation issued under Title I 

of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

'f.JTLE· 3-THE MoToR FIRE APPARATus MANUFACTURERS 

AssociATION 

5. From the date of the approval of this Code by the President 

The Constitution and Bylaws of said Association shall be in the 

form hereto attached as Schedule II, and the parties to this Code 

who are members of said Association agree to take all action necessary to· make said Constitution and Bylaws effective in the form of 

Schedule II immediately upon ·the approval of this Code by the 

President. 

6. The Association is hereby constituted the agency for collecting 

statistical data as to costs, production, sales and all other matters 

affecting the industry as to which the Government may require 

information and the manufacturers engaged in the industry shall 

furnish such information and make such reports to the Association as 

may be necessary in order to enable the Association to collect and 

furnish to the Government the information required under the terms 

of the. National Industrial Recovery Act. The manufacturers shall 

keep their accounts in such form .as may be necessary to enabl~ them 

to _furnish information desired by the Government. 

TITLE 4-PRoTECTION oF EMPLOYEES AND OF THE PuBLIC INTEREST 

7. The Association, acting through its Board of Directors, anq/or 

a·gents duly appointed, shall proceed with due diligence to gather from 

members of the industry information as to cost of production, accounting sy~~ems, wa.ges, working .hours and other relevant data for the 

purpose of preparing and submitt~F~ to the President for approv~l an 
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agreement between members ·of the in~ustry which Will · adequat~ly 

protect · employees, consumers, competitors, members of the trade, 

and others, in furtherance of the public interest as conte.mplated by 

Title I, Section 4, of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

A. Wages.-(1) Not to pay any f~ctory or mecha-nical worker or 

artisan less than 43 cents per hour in cities having 500,000 population 

or over, and 4n~ cents per ho~r in cities having 250,000 and less than '500,000. And 40 cents per hour in cities or towns having less than 

2.50,000 population. 

(2) Not to pay any accounting, clerical office, service, or sales 

employee less than $15.00 per week in any city of ov~r 500,000 population, or in the immediate trade area of such city; nor less than 

$14.50 per week in any city of between 250,000 and 500,000 population, or in the immediate trade area of such city; nor less than $14.00 

per week in any city of between 2,500 and 250,000 population, or in 

the immediate trade area of such city; and in towns of less than 2,500 

population to increase all wages by not less than 20 percent, provided 

that this shall not require wages in excess of $12.00 per week. 

(3) In the respective localities above mentioned no male or female 

factory employee over 16 and less than 21 years of age shall receive 

not in excess of 5 cents per hour less than the rates prescribed in 

paragraph (1). In the event any manufacturer were paying less than 

the foregoing hourly rates on July 15, 1929, such latter rates shall 

apply except, that in no event shall the rate be less than 30 cents per 

hour. · 

(4) No manufacturer· shall pay superannuated employees and/oipensioners a rate in excess of 70% of the rates prescribed in paragraph 

(1) and in no case shall this class of employee at any time constitut~ 

more than 10% o.f the total number of employees. · 

(5) No manufacturer shall employ any person under 16 years of 

age. . . · · 

B. Hours of Labor.-(1) No manufacturer shall employ any factory 

or mechanical worker or artisan more than a maximum week o"f 35 

hours. · · 

(2) No ·manufacturer shall employ any accounting, clerical, office;, 

service, or sales employees, except outside salesme:ri and employees 

in a manageria1 or executive capacity, who now receive more than 

$35.00 per week more than a maximum week of 40 hours. 

(3) No manufacturer shall be required to change its present hours 

of labor of engineers, firemen, watchmen, maintenance men; and 

janitors. · · 

TITLE 5-CODE OF ETHICS 

8. The Code of Ethics attached hereto as Schedule III shall constitute a Code of Ethics for the Motor Fire Apparatus Industry. The 

parties hereto agree that they will not engage in any practice condemned or prohibited in said Code of Ethics or therein designated as 

an unfair trade practice. The Code of Ethics shall constitute an 

integral part of this Code of Fair Competition. 

9. Subjeet to rules and regulations made by the President, this 

Code of Ethics may be amended, repealed, or altered in whole or in 

part, by a majority of the votes of any meeting of the Association 

at which a quorum is present, provided the proposed change is sub-
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mitted by mail to the last recorded address of each member at least 

thirty (30) days before the time of the meeting which is to consider 

the change. 

TITLE 6-MERCHANDISING PLAN 

10. The parties hereto establish a uniform Merchandising Plan for 

the members of the industry, in the form hereto attached as Schedule 

IV, and they. agree that the said Plan incorporates the merchandising 

policies best calculated to promote fair competition in the industry. 

The said parties further agree to adhere to the provisions of the said 

Merchandising Plan in marketing all products which are subject to 

the terms of this Code as defined in Schedule I. 

11. Subject to rules and regulations made by the President of the 

United States and in order to meet changing conditions the industry 

Merchandising Plan hereto attached as Schedule IV may be amended, 

repealed, or altered, in whole or in part, by a majority of the votes 

of any meeting of the Association at which a quorum is present, 

provided the proposed change is submitted by mail to the last recorded address of each member at least thirty (30) days before the 

time of the meeting which is to consider the change. 

TITLE 7-PUBLICITY OF PRICES 

12. When this Code has been approved by the President, every 

manufacturer who is subject to the provisions of the Code shall 

forthwith file in the office of the Secretary of the Association for 

immediate distribution to all said manufacturers a complete schedule 

of his prices and terms of sale then in effect on all motor fire apparatus 

as defined in Schedule I. These prices shall be furnished by each 

member in sufficient quantities to distribute to all members of the 

Association within ten (10) days after the approval of the President. 

13. All such price lists shall be open to inspection at the office of 

the .Secretary of the Association by all members of the Association. 

Upon the request of any nonmember of the Association for information as to prices or terms of sale applicable to any member of the 

Association, the Secretary shall furnish copies of such relevant price 

lists to such applicant. The charge therefor, if any, made by the 

Association shall not exceed the actual cost of copies furnished and 

postage. 

14. The fundamental purpose of the publicity requirements of this 

Code is to insure complete publicity of prices and all terms of sale of 

manufacturers, and the parties hereto agree that they will not sell 

at any time or to any person, except upon terms then published 

and in effect. The parties hereto shall have the right individually 

to publish new price lists and terms of sale from time to time not inconsistent with the provision of this Code. 

15. In the event of any n1anufacturer desiring to make a change in 

price or other terms of sale, he shall give the Secretary thirty (30) 

days notice of such change which shall immediately be sent by the 

Secretary to all other manufacturers of the industry. Other manufacturers shall have the right to change their prices, change to become 

effective at same time as first applicant. 

16. The price publicity herein prescribed shall apply to prices and 

other tern1s of sale of all products described in Schedule I hereto 

attached. 
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TITLE 8-ENFORCEMENT oF THE ConE 

17. The Board of Directors of the Association shall designate an 

agent or agents to investigate complaints of violations of this Code. 

The members of the Association shall facilitate such investigations by 

opening their correspondence, books, and accounts for examination 

by the authorized representatives of the Association and by furnishing relevant information. In the event of any willful violation being 

disclosed the Board of Directors may present evidence thereof to the 

proper department, agency, or judicial branch of the Government. 

The foregoing Code of Fair Competition has been agreed to and 

adopted by the members of the Motor Fire Apparatus Association. MoToR FIRE APPARATUS MANUFACTURERS AssociATION, 

By: CHARLES H. Fox, President. 
ScHEDULE I 

MOTOR FIRE APPARATUS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION 

Motor fire apparatus is defined for the purpose of the Code of Fair Competition 

to include the following products: 

1. Pumping engines, aerial trucks, water towers, hook and ladder trucks, 

service trucks, chemical engines, hose cars, salvage cars, squad cars, all other 

motor-propelled vehicles and equipment for same used for fire-protection purposes, 

and service parts for same. 

2. The application of the Code of Fair Competition to the products enumerated 

in this schedule shall be defined as follows: 

(a) Nothing contained in this Code of Fair Competition shall be construed as 

prohibiting any member of the industry from exercising all its and/or their lawful 

patent rights or as requiring any member of the industry to do any act in conflict 

with the terms of a patent licensing agreement legally binding upon such member. 

(b) The products listed in paragraph 1 shall be subject to all the provisions of 

the Code of Fair Competition and schedules except as limited by subparagraph 

(a) hereof. 

(6) 
SCHEDULE III 

CODE OF ETHICS OF THE MOTOR FIRE APPARATUS INDUSTRY 

1. EMPLOYERS 

(a) Enticing employees from competitors.-Maliciously enticing an employee 

or employees of competitors with the intent of unduly hampering, injuring or 

embarrassing a competitor or competitors in the conduct of their business i~ an 

unfair trade practice. 

2. MERCHANDISE 

(a) Misrepresentation.-Misrepresentation as to the quality, weight, or performance of any product sold or offered for sale by any manufacturer is an unfeir 

trade practice. 

(b) Demonstrators.-No manufacturer shall reduce the price of a new apparatus 

under the guise that it is a demonstrator. · · 1. All demonstrators now in stock at branches or f!tctory or in the hands of 

salesmen shall be registered with the Secretary. A proper description listing the 

capacity, type, and serial or factory number shall be given. The Secretary shall 

provide the members with the list in question: 

2. Repossessed new and unused cars shall also be registered wit.h the Secretary 

showing from what city repossessed. · · · 3. When such apparatus is sold the Secretary shall be notified to whom sold and 

at what price. . .. 4. No further apparatus shall be built for demonstrations~ 

5. Demonstrations· at the factory or established branches shall not come within 

the meaning of the .above paragraph. . . · 6. New show cars must. be sold at the manufacturer's established prices for 

new cars. · · · 1 •• : 

(c) Obsolete goods.-The Board of Directors shall appoint a committee to1 

consider the manner of disposing of any goods coming under this heading upon 

request by any member of the Association. 

3. INVOICING 

(a) Fictitious Invoices.-Fictitious invoicing of merchandise is an unfair trade 

practice. No manufacturer shall invoice any customers for products other than 

those actually shipped against the invoice, nor at a price other than that which 

shall be paid by the customer. One intent of this paragraph is to prevent 

rebating. 

(\:>) Omission of Data.-Any items pertaining to the sale omitted from the 

invoice shall be considered an unfair trade practice. 

(c) Unauthorized Deductions.-Permitting a customer to make any deductions 

from the invoice not covered by the terms of sale in making his remittance shall 

be considered an unfair trade practice. 

(d) Interest Allowance.-No manufacturer shall waive interest on delayed cash 

payments or allow a period of grace between date of acceptance and date interest 

begins on deferred payments. 

(e) Free Goods or Extras.-No manufacturer shall ship or in any way deliver 

free goods of any kind to any customer. This does not refer to replacements 

due to defective material or inferior workmanship. 

(f) Subnormal Prices.-N o manufacturer shall subnormally price any products 

manufactured and/or sold by him, whether or not included under the Motor 

Fire Apparatus Merchandising Plan, for the purpose of influencing the sale of 

Motor Fire Apparatus. 

4. ADVERTISING 

(a) Misrepresentation.-Advertisements, statements, or inferences which 

directly or indirectly reflect falsely upon the merchandise, policies, or financial 

standing of any competitor or which are detrimental to the best interests and 

welfare of the industry are unfair trade practices. 

(7) 
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5. SuBSIDIES 

(a) Lavish Entertainment.-Manufacturers shall not encourage nor permit 

1avish entertainment of a customer by their employees. 

(b) Excessive Allowance and Adjustments.-No manufacturer shall make any 

allowance to a customer for alleged defective merchandise, alleged shortages, or 

for adjusting alleged complaints of any kind. 

(c) Granting Excessive Credit.-Manufacturers shall not offer or extend to 

customers unusual volume of credit as an inducement to place business with 

manufacturers. Manufacturers shall charge and collect not less than 6% 

interest, except in those States where the legal interest rate is less than 6%, and 

in such States the legal rate shall apply. 

(d) Extended Terms.-No manufacturer shall grant a customer terms of an 

extended nature other than those regularly published by the manufacturer. 

6. CuTTHROAT CoMPETITION 

Selling goods below manufacturers own cost, including distribution and general 

administrative cost, is an unfair trade practice. 

7. SUNDRIES 

(a) Breaking Contracts.-The inducing or assisting of breaking a contract or 

setting aside of an official award is considered an unfair trade practice. 

(b) Trade-Ins.-No trade-in allowance shall be made in excess of the standard 

set by the Association based on the age and type of equipment. Old apparatus 

taken in trade must be removed from customers' premises. In event of resale to 

same customer, it shall not be sold at less than the amount allowed on purchase 

of new equipment. 

(c) Uniform Cost Basis.-Members of the Industry shall use a uniform cost 

accounting system to be drawn up by the Association; such system to be adapted 

to the various classifications of the Industry. 

(d) General.-N o practice or subterfuge contrary to the spirit of this Code of 

Ethics or to the Merchandising Plan shall be indulged in by any employee of any 

manufacturer. 
ScHEDULE IV 

MERCHANDISING PLAN OF THE MOTOR FIRE APPARATUS MANU. 

FACTURERS ASSOCIATION 

A. Products.-The following products are subject to all of the provisions of this 

Merchandising Plan: 

1. All pumping engines. 

2. All types of chemical cars. 3. All types of hook and ladder trucks. 

4. All types of aerial trucks. 

5. All types of water towers. 

6. All types of hose and squad cars. 7. All types of service trucks. 

8. All other types of motor-propelled vehicles used for fire-protection service. 

B. Territory.-This Merchandising Plan applies on sales for shipment from 

manufacturers' factories, warehouses and branches into all territory within the 

United States. 

C. Classes of Buyers.-The following are the principal classes of buyers in this 

industry: 

1. Municipalities. 

2. Volunteer fire companies. 

3. Industrial concerns. 

4. City, State, and County Governments and political subdivisions of same. 5. U.S. Government. 

D. Prices.-Prices shall be established as determined individually by each 

manufacturer. 

E. Terms.-Terms shall be as determined individually by each manufacturer. 

However, the down payment in each case shall be not less than 33Ya% of the purchase price and deferred payments shall not extend beyond a period of two years. 

F. Discounts.-1. Quantity Discounts: 

The maximum for quantity discounts shall be as follows: 2% for 2 pieces, 

3% for 3 pieces, 4% for 4 pieces, 5% for 5 pieces, 6% for 6 pieces, 7% for 7 pieces, 

8% for 8 pieces, 9% for 9 pieces, 10% for 10 or more pieces. 

2. Cash Discounts: 

A maximum discount of 5% may be allowed for cash sales, providing payment 

is made within thirty days from date of invoice. G. Standard equipment specification.-The Board of Directors shall appoint a 

committee for the purpose of recommending what constitutes standard equipment. These recommendations will then be presented to the members of the 

association for approval and adoption. 

H. Order and contract forms.-The Board of Directors shall appoint a committee for the purpose of drafting standard contract forms which will be presented to the members of the association for approval and adoption. 

Uniform contract forms shall be used by each manufacturer in the industry. 

(9) 

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