By Chris Mc Loone
This year, Oshkosh Corporation celebrates its 100th year in business.
The company’s connection to the fire service is both as a manufacturer of aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles and as the parent company of Pierce Manufacturing, which it acquired in 1996.
History
William Besserdich and B.A. Mosling founded Oshkosh Corporation in 1917. Besserdich and Mosling designed two innovations to help improve mobility in a time when roads were primarily dirt and gravel. These innovations gave people the courage and confidence to drive places they didn’t even think possible before. The first patent was a transfer case that is responsible for transferring the power from the front axle to the rear. Elements of the second patent improved the steering and drive capacity of the front axle.
Since that time, Oshkosh Corporation has grown in size, capabilities, and footprint. Products in the Oshkosh Corporation family of brands respond to emergencies, save lives, help others reach new heights, and serve the world. Today, Oshkosh Corporation has more than 13,500 team members and is an integrated global industrial company.
![1 One premise that Oshkosh Corporation was founded on was allowing people the courage and confidence to drive places and do things they didn’t think possible. In the case of its Ascendant aerial product, the company as told reaching 107 feet in the air on a single axle wasn’t possible - but Oshkosh proved it is. (Photos courtesy of Oshkosh Corporation](/content/dam/fa/print-articles/volume-22/issue-4/1704FA_Oshkosh1.jpg) |
1 One premise that Oshkosh Corporation was founded on was allowing people the courage and confidence to drive places and do things they didn’t think possible. In the case of its Ascendant aerial product, the company as told reaching 107 feet in the air on a single axle wasn’t possible - but Oshkosh proved it is. (Photos courtesy of Oshkosh Corporation.) |
The company brings together a set of integrated capabilities and diverse end markets and is a leader in designing, manufacturing, and servicing a broad range of access equipment, commercial vehicles, fire and emergency vehicles, military and specialty vehicles, and vehicle bodies under the Oshkosh®, JLG®, Pierce®, McNeilus®, Jerr-Dan®, Frontline™, CON-E-CO®, London®, and IMT® brands.
Today Oshkosh Corporation is a Fortune 500 company with manufacturing operations on four continents, and its products can be found in more than 150 countries around the globe. It has manufacturing operations in eight U.S. states and in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Mexico, and Romania and through investments in joint ventures in Mexico and Brazil.
“One reason that we’re a different kind of global industrial company is our culture,” says Rob Messina, chief technology officer at Oshkosh. “Since our beginnings in 1917, many people told us ‘no.’ Instead of giving up, our founders persevered - even after receiving 53 rejection letters for their first two patents. That can-do spirit is very much alive today. Our JLG 1850SJ carries operators 185 feet in the air, and we were told it couldn’t be done - but we did it. Our Ascendant reaches 107 feet in the air on a single rear axle. Again, we were told it wasn’t possible. Our people truly make a difference in the world around us and are committed to finding solutions even when others tell us it’s not possible.”
Innovations
To remain in business for 100 years or more, there must have been successes through the years that allow it to experience such longevity. It is n