Aaron: I will try my best to fill in some open spots in the history of Sanford Fire Apparatus. The period between around 1985 to 1995 was a turbulent time in the apparatus industry. Due to high interest rates many smaller builders were forced to take progress payments as the apparatus was built or insist that the chassis were paid for by the department when they were received. All chassis builders at that time (Duplex, Pemfab, Hendrickson and Spartan) would give the manufacturer 30 days to pay for the chassis and after that time the body builder would have to floor plan the unit with their bank or financial institution. In the end not many builders were making much profit and apparatus prices were very tight.
In the central New York area where Sanford had built a strong following over the years there was very stiff competition from local sales organizations representing E\-One, Pierce, Supthen and 3-D Metals. Saulsbury Fire Apparatus was right down the road in Tully, New York and there was always a rivalry between Saulsbury and Sanford. As the larger apparatus builders could produce a wide variety of rigs, smaller companies had difficulty being competitive with them while maintaining their sales force. It is true that several fire departments had units on order at the time that Sanford ceased operations in early 1990 with some of these contracts assigned to other body builders through the company holding the performance bonds.
I am unsure who took delivery of the last 100 percent built Sanford rig, that bit of information would be nice to find out.
Hope that this information helps, be safe.
Tom Shand
Winchester, Virginia
In the central New York area where Sanford had built a strong following over the years there was very stiff competition from local sales organizations representing E\-One, Pierce, Supthen and 3-D Metals. Saulsbury Fire Apparatus was right down the road in Tully, New York and there was always a rivalry between Saulsbury and Sanford. As the larger apparatus builders could produce a wide variety of rigs, smaller companies had difficulty being competitive with them while maintaining their sales force. It is true that several fire departments had units on order at the time that Sanford ceased operations in early 1990 with some of these contracts assigned to other body builders through the company holding the performance bonds.
I am unsure who took delivery of the last 100 percent built Sanford rig, that bit of information would be nice to find out.
Hope that this information helps, be safe.
Tom Shand
Winchester, Virginia
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