Oshkosh Truck Donates Rescue Vehicle to Fire Department of New York

    OSHKOSH, Wis.--April 11, 2002--Oshkosh Truck Corporation's subsidiary, Pierce Manufacturing, and its employees are donating a specially built air and light support rescue vehicle to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). It will be on display at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Ind., April 11-14. Afterward, Pierce representatives will drive the truck to New York City where it will be put it into service protecting the people of that city.
    At FDIC, the rescue vehicle will be presented to John Norman, FDNY Chief of Special Operations, on April 11.
    The company is donating the truck as part of the nation's outpouring of support for New York firefighters, rescue workers, and the city in general. Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, employees at Pierce were inspired to help New York City triumph over this tragedy.
    "We work shoulder to shoulder with firefighters daily and we feel a special bond. These people are our brothers and sisters, and we felt compelled to help. We manufacture fire and rescue trucks, so that is what we have done for the firefighters and people of New York," said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
    No ceremony is planned in New York City, where firefighters and rescue workers continue to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, sifting through the rubble of the World Trade Center, which was struck by two hijacked commercial jetliners in a terrorist attack.
    The Fire Department of New York has unique requirements for its fire apparatus. A Pierce representative visited New York City to develop specifications for the rescue truck in September 2001, shortly after the company decided to donate the vehicle. The air and light support rescue vehicle is built on a Kenworth(R) four-door T-300 chassis. Kenworth Truck Company, a division of PACCAR, Inc., donated the chassis. In addition, almost 70 component manufacturers donated or installed equipment for the FDNY vehicle. It bears a special vehicle identification number: 9-11-01.
    Pierce Manufacturing was featured live on CNN and CNN Headline News on March 11, the six-month anniversary of the attack. The rescue truck was on the production line when CNN crews visited the Pierce factory in Appleton, Wis. It was featured during the broadcasts.

    Oshkosh Truck Corporation is a leading manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for the fire and emergency, defense, concrete placement and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is a Fortune 1000 company with products marketed under the Oshkosh, Pierce, McNeilus, Medtec, Geesink and Norba brand names. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., and had annual sales of $1.45 billion in fiscal 2001.