Pierce Manufacturing Inc. has teamed up with MAXIMETAL of Saint-Georges de Beauce, Quebec, Canada. Pierce will sell the new Pierce® Saber® custom chassis’ to MAXIMETAL who, in turn, will mount various firefighting body configurations onto the chassis. The completed apparatus will be marketed across Canada through the network of Pierce dealers.
APPLETON, Wis. (November 18, 2015) – Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, announced that it has teamed up with MAXIMETAL, INC. of Saint-Georges de Beauce, Quebec, Canada. Pierce will sell Pierce® Saber® custom chassis’ to MAXIMETAL who, in turn, will manufacture and mount its various firefighting body configurations onto the chassis. The completed apparatus will be marketed across Canada through the Pierce dealer network.
“We have diligently and methodically searched for a local Canadian body builder to design a family of apparatus specifically for the Canadian market – and MAXIMETAL is an excellent match for the new Pierce Saber custom chassis,” said Jim Johnson, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president of the Fire & Emergency segment and Pierce Manufacturing. “MAXIMETAL – with its reputation for quality, reliability, and an overriding focus driven by customer service and support – is the ideal choice.”
Beginning in 2016, MAXIMETAL will offer pumper and pumper tanker configurations. Additional configurations will be added in the future. Pierce’s Canadian dealers will market and sell these new apparatus on behalf of MAXIMETAL to fire and emergency departments across all provinces.
“The people at Pierce were looking for a Canadian partner to build fire trucks for them, and we wanted to expand our sales and distribution efforts across the country. It’s a great fit and a win-win for both organizations,” said Danny Dufour, president of MAXIMETAL. “The Pierce team is very down to earth; they visited our plant, evaluated our operations, and we all knew we would work well together. They like our philosophy and forward-looking vision, and we like the Saber chassis – it’s well adapted to our market.”
The Pierce Saber custom chassis sets the leading edge in the industry standard custom chassis market. The cab interior offers significantly more room for firefighters, featuring a raised roof transition line moved forward to create a “cathedral ceiling” effect, while a flat floor in the crew cab area provides surer footing. The stair steps are low, and offset to function like stairs for easier entry and exit. A one-piece wraparound windshield delivers excellent outward visibility. The Saber chassis offers a medium-block engine with up to 450 hp., while a 50-degree cramp angle offers greater maneuverability along narrow roads, alleys and cul-de-sacs.