Oshkosh Truck Announces Large Orders Drive Record Sales for Its Value-Priced Contender Fire Trucks

[Oshkosh Truck via BizWire]

OSHKOSH, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2004--

16 Apparatus go to Benton County, Ark.; 19 to U.S. Air Force; 11 to
Pennington County, S.D.

Oshkosh Truck Corporation (NYSE:OSK) announced three straight
record sales months for its Contender(R) brand of fire trucks to kick
off the 2004 calendar year. Contender brand fire apparatus are
manufactured by Oshkosh's subsidiary, Pierce Manufacturing Inc., at
its Bradenton, Fla., facility. In the last five years, Contender has
become one of the largest fire apparatus brands in North America in
its own right, contributing significantly to Pierce's growth.
The company made the announcement on the heels of three
particularly large apparatus orders. Benton County, Ark., home of
Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart, began taking delivery in March of the first
of 16 Contender commercial pumpers that will upgrade an aging fleet of
fire trucks in one of Arkansas's fastest growing areas. The United
States Air Force has issued a contract for 19 Contender commercial
rescues, and Pennington County, S.D. took delivery of 11 Contender
brush trucks.
"The Contender brand has become very popular among departments of
all sizes from across the country. It offers a wide range of apparatus
that provide outstanding value for fire departments on a tight budget.
In the last quarter, we've especially seen growth in multiple truck
orders such as these," said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh chairman,
president and chief executive officer.
In Benton County, the 16 Contender pumpers will mean more than
half of the county's 25 fire departments will have at least one new
fire apparatus this year. The Benton County fire district wanted to
replace some older equipment, which was eating up local budgets with
repair costs.
The 19 rescues destined for the U.S. Air Force feature four-door
Ford F-550 chassis and 12-foot rescue bodies. These compact,
all-wheel-drive rescues will be stationed at air bases worldwide,
providing highly maneuverable response for light and medium-duty
rescue applications.
Pennington County is centered on Rapid City, S.D., and consists of
most of the Black Hills National Forest, Mount Rushmore, Badlands
National Park and part of Buffalo Gap National Grassland. Fire
departments in the county are responsible for protecting these natural
areas, many of which can be difficult to access. Pennington County
took delivery on 11 Contender brush trucks April 20. They, and the
original working prototype of these trucks, will go to 12 fire
departments throughout the county following several years of wildland
fires aggravated by drought. The trucks are all built on the
Freightliner FL70 four-wheel-drive chassis.

Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. is the leading North American
manufacturer of custom fire apparatus and a subsidiary of Oshkosh
Truck Corporation (NYSE:OSK). Products include custom and commercial
pumpers, aerials, rescue trucks, wildland trucks, minipumpers and
elliptical tankers. Pierce developed the Contender brand to offer cost
effective apparatus that deliver tremendous value. The Contender
product line includes a wide range of custom and commercial pumpers,
rescues, mini-pumpers, brush trucks and tankers.
To learn more about Pierce Manufacturing Inc., visit its web site
at www.piercemfg.com.

Oshkosh Truck Corporation (NYSE:OSK) is a leading manufacturer of
specialty trucks and truck bodies for the defense, fire and emergency,
concrete placement and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is a
Fortune 1000 company with products marketed under the Oshkosh(R),
Pierce(R), McNeilus(R), Medtec(R), Geesink and Norba brand names. The
company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., and had annual sales of
$1.9 billion in fiscal 2003.
To learn more about Oshkosh Truck Corporation, visit its web site
at www.oshkoshtruckcorporation.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that the company believes
are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other
than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding the
company's future financial position, business strategy, targets,
projected sales, costs, earnings, capital spending and debt levels,
and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are
forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words
such as the company "expects," "intends," "estimates," "anticipates,"
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are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond
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materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These factors include, without limitation, risks related
to reductions in government expenditures, the uncertainty of
government contracts and the possibility that expected cost savings
will not be achieved nor future plans realized. Additional information
concerning these and other factors is contained in the company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.