Whats with the ALF scuttlebutt ?

[Sta22BeaverCoPA]

I see on here there might be problems with American LaFrance. Does anyone know what exactly is going on ? I would hate to see a department order trucks now and not get them or get the last of the barrel ? Any help ? Tiller you seem to know something. <img src="eek.gif" border="0">

[BCRJP]

STA.22BeaverCoPa,all you have heard is exactly that,just rumors. With the new people that have been brought in there are plans to consolidate some of their properties. But I believe ALF will continue to make apparatus. When change takes place within these companies rumors start about these companies closing and sometimes they do,but Freightliner still made money as a whole. So I do feel a department wouldn't have to worry about accepting their bid.

[BCRJP]

STA.22BeaverCoPa,all you have heard is exactly that,just rumors. With the new people that have been brought in there are plans to consolidate some of their properties. But I believe ALF will continue to make apparatus. When change takes place within these companies rumors start about these companies closing and sometimes they do,but Freightliner still made money as a whole. So I feel a department wouldn't have to worry about accepting their bid.

[10R38]

To help with this rumor. ALF is unifying the company to improve on it's already good manufacturing and quality .

[10R38]

ALF is going to be here for a long time <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

[ENG6511]

10R38, I don't know where you get your information but it's ACCURATE. Enough said.<br />R.J. Compton, Esq.

[SCampbell]

The rumors are abounding and I can tell you they are not going to stop in the near future. This division of Freightliner will become what it deserves,the number one Emergency vehicle manufacturer hands down. Stay Tuned!!!!!!!!!!

[James Reider]

This last saturday (1/12/02)I had to make a trip to ALF of Shawano Wis. to do a chassis check off of our new Eagle pumper to be delivered in April.Their lot was full of new chassis and their employee's are working 60 to 70 hours per week. I make trips this way about every other month and I've only seen a slow down once in about 3 yrs. I live in Appleton Wis and have a Pierce plant in our Township. The local paper reported about 2 to 3 months ago Pierce was laying of about 50 employee's.<br /> This rumor has been spread by other dealers as a selling point for other manufactor's. I have had to check out every rumor of this with our new truck coming from ALF. ALF is willing to give me any documantion of financial statements to back this up.<br /> The revamping of ALF is stream lineing of operations to be affective in these areas. This will help them be more competive in the market. Almost every manufactor in the world is doing this to be more cost affective. <img src="tongue.gif" border="0"> <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

[ 01-14-2002: Message edited by: James Reider ]</p>

[SCampbell]

James Reider<br />You hit it right on the head, When ALF started grabbing market share two years ago the big TWO didnt have enough thought process other than to go on the attack and start these rumors. First I heard "Wait until OctoberFreightliner is reorganizing and ALF is gone,when that didnt happen it was "wait until Jan.1, they will announce the division is closing then, well guess what, they are still here and not going anywere excep to grab more market share, 2002 is going to be really interesting to watch. Knowing what I know I would be leary about being a competitor to these guys. STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rich F]

Tiller,

OK I'll bite, what do you know about ALF that we should all be on the look out for in 2002?????

<br />Stay Safe

[FyredUp]

tiller,

You sound like an ALF dealer or sales rep in this forum too! What a coincidence.

If you have info spill it or quit pretending to be an insider.

Take care and stay safe,

FyredUp

[Firetruck122]

I have read the stories in the local newspaper and talked to over 100 people that were laid off from the Central Florida plant that they closed the doors on the first of the year formally known as Southern Coach. Seems to me like things are getting tough for a certain company.

[Engine 224]

Firetruck122, are you talking about Enron, K-Mart or ALF?

Southern Coach was the weak sister in the ALF constellation. Their product qulity was not up to the 3D or RD Murray standards and so they got cut. When times are hard, excess capacity gets cut. Is that a sign of weakness or strength?

(The author has NO affiliation with ALF)

[fireman_387]

I had read somewhere that ALF was selling back RD Murray? any truth to that?

[EMT135864]

This is kind of off the topic, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience or exposure to the new American LaFrance/Medic Master Sprinter ambulances?? These are the new Type II's with the European look and a Mercedes-Benz engine.

[JStapf]

I test drove one of the prototype Sprinters about 3 weeks ago. My employer, University EMS in Hershey, has signed a letter of intent to purchase two of the Freightliner Sprinter Demo's that are on loan at the Olympics. Expected delivery is the second or third week of March.

The units are interesting. Larger than a Type II Ford but smaller than most modulars. As far as the motor goes, they have decent acceleration off the line but it fads out going into second. Ride is good, handling excellent with the dual rear wheels and the unit turns real tight. The load height is several inches lower than most type II's and it has a 3500lb payload. The raised roof (72" headroom) is how the van is made and is not an add on like on most type II's. Downside is no storage under the bench seat and the sliding side door is hard to open from the inside due to poor handle positioning. Another downside is no tilt wheel or cruise.

We plan to use them as primary transport units and backups for Emergencies. I know that Empire State Ambulance in NY put two inservice a few weeks ago and when I spoke to them, they seemed real positive about them.

[FF26]

I would like add my recent observations to this thread.

1) We just got back from our pre-construction conference for our new ladder truck at the plant in Ephrata Pa. Every spot in the plant was full and 3-4 more chassis were sitting outside waiting for a spot.

2) If you read the editorial page of the Feb. issue of Fire Apparatus it explains the logic behind closing the Southern Coach plant and moving the operations to it's Charleston SC plant. Don't be suprised to hear another divison move in there as well as it is over 460,000 sq ft. The artical goes on to discuss current chassis news from ALF and about the Sprinter Ambulance.

3) The selling off of RD Murray would not make great business sense as it it the plant where they manufacture SS body trucks, which if you live in the North East are almost a must have if you wish to keep it more than 10yrs.

[Box2565]

I didn't realize that ALF had a plant in Charleston. Does anyone know what product line is being constructed there? FF26, is the Charleston plant merely a relocation of the Southern Coach operation that was started for that purpose?

[gordoffemt]

An ALF regional sales manager that is in charge of a 19 state territory was at our station for a meeting recently. ALF has purchased LTI outright and is now American LaFrance Aerials. This may be old news to some. He explained to us that the manufacturing "partnerships" they had formed were not working as well as they expected. Therefore, they were looking to purchase these operations.

Doesn't sound to me like they're going anywhere soon.

[FF26]

As I understand it the Charleston plant was just sitting in "mothballs" for the last year or so. I believe that besides the Southern Coach line, this plant will also produce some of their new entry level "stock" trucks, I think there called the Defender series (although I don't have the article right in front me as I type, so the name might be wrong).

In addition I am told that some of there Engineering staff from other plants will also be relocating there. I learned this from one of the Engineers at the Ephrata (LTI) plant who was leaving for there this week.

The bottom line is like any business today they have to take a hard look at what is their core business direction and ensure that they are positioned correctly to deliver on it. It is with this in mind that I would expect more changes from ALF such as consolidation and the dropping of unprofitable product lines, in fact I would be suprised if you didn't see this across the entire industry after all the mergers that occured over the last couple of years.

In closing I believe that after having seen for myself some of their facilities and read their nearterm plans for new products that they are in this for the long haul.