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

Business Editors

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," or "believes" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control, that could cause actual results to differ 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.