HJRES 203: Directing the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and report on anticompetitive practices and violations of the antitrust laws in the fire truck manufacturing industry.

HJRES 203 in plain English: This resolution directs the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and report on potentially anticompetitive practices and antitrust law violations in the fire truck manufacturing industry. It highlights that between 2013 and 2023, pumper truck prices roughly doubled from $500,000 to nearly $1,000,000, and ladder truck prices rose from $900,000 to nearly $2,000,000, far outpacing inflation.

Stated purpose

This resolution directs the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether anticompetitive practices or antitrust violations are occurring in the fire truck manufacturing industry, and to report its findings and recommendations to Congress within one year.

Key points

• Directs the FTC to investigate anticompetitive practices in the fire truck manufacturing industry
• Pumper truck prices rose from $500,000 to nearly $1,000,000 between 2013 and 2023
• Ladder truck prices rose from $900,000 to nearly $2,000,000 between 2013 and 2023
• Price increases have far outpaced inflation

Arguments supporters make

• Three companies control 70–80% of the fire truck market, prices have nearly doubled in a decade, and delivery times have quadrupled — an independent federal investigation is needed to find out whether illegal anticompetitive behavior is driving those outcomes.
• When fire departments cannot afford or obtain trucks on time, firefighter safety and the public's ability to get emergency help are put at risk, making this a public safety issue that warrants government scrutiny.
• Congress has the legal authority to direct the FTC to investigate specific industries, and credible allegations — including a class action lawsuit — already exist, giving the agency a clear basis to act.

Arguments opponents make

• Price increases and supply backlogs may reflect real-world factors like supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and rising materials costs rather than illegal conduct, so an investigation could find no wrongdoing while consuming significant FTC resources.
• Directing an independent regulatory agency to investigate a specific industry through a congressional resolution risks politicizing enforcement decisions that should be made by the agency based on its own assessment of evidence.
• A one-year reporting deadline may be too short for a thorough, legally sound antitrust investigation of a complex industry, potentially leading to rushed or incomplete conclusions.

Tradeoffs

Using FTC resources and authority to investigate one specific industry may crowd out the agency's attention to other potential antitrust concerns elsewhere; and while a finding of violations could lower costs for fire departments, it could also impose significant legal and compliance burdens on manufacturers regardless of the investigation's ultimate outcome.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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