Federal Signal Corporation is an American manufacturer headquartered in

Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the village was ...

. Federal Signal manufactures street sweeper vehicles,

public address system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

emergency vehicle equipment Emergency vehicle equipment is any equipment fitted to, or carried by, an emergency vehicle, other than the equipment that a standard non-emergency vehicle is fitted with (such as headlights, steering wheels, and windscreen, windshield/windscre ...

, and

emergency vehicle lighting Emergency vehicle lighting, also known as simply emergency lighting or emergency lights, is a type of Automotive lighting, vehicle lighting used to visually announce a vehicle's presence to other road users. A sub-type of emergency vehicle equipme ...

. The company operates two groups: Federal Signal Environmental Solutions and Federal Signal Safety and Security Systems. Federal Signal Environmental Solutions Group manufactures

street sweeper A street sweeper or street cleaner is a person or machine that cleans streets. People have worked in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and Waste management, waste removal became a priority. A street-sweeping person would use a b ...

vehicles, sewer cleaner and vacuum loader trucks, hydro excavators, waterblasting equipment,

dump truck A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials (such as dirt, gravel, or demolition waste) for construction as well as coal. A typical dump truck is equipped ...

bodies, and trailers. Federal Signal Safety and Security Systems Group manufactures campus alerting systems, emergency vehicle lighting, emergency sirens, alarm systems, outdoor warning sirens, and public address systems. Currently, the company has 14 manufacturing facilities in 5 different countries.

History

Federal Signal was founded in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, as the Federal Electric Company in 1901 by brothers John and James Gilchrist and partner John Goehst, manufacturing and selling store signs lit by incandescent lamps. By 1915, they began manufacturing and selling electrically operated mechanical sirens (such as the Q Siren and the Model 66 Siren). During this time, Federal Electric came under the ownership of

Commonwealth Edison Commonwealth Edison, commonly known by syllabic abbreviation as ComEd, is the largest electric utility in Illinois, and the primary electric provider in Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Its service territory stretches roughly from Iroquoi ...

, eventually becoming a part of the utility empire of

Samuel Insull Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a British American business magnate. He was an innovator and investor based in Chicago who helped create an integrated electrical infrastructure in the United States. Insull created hold ...

. By the 1950s, the company was manufacturing outdoor warning sirens, most notably the Thunderbolt series, primarily intended for warning of air raid attacks or fallout during the Cold War. Many of these sirens have been removed, but some still are operating in tornado siren systems. Longtime engineer Earl Gosswiller patented the Beacon-Ray and TwinSonic products, which were popular emergency vehicle lightbars. In 1955, the company became a corporation, renaming itself "Federal Sign and Signal Corporation" . By this time, it made outdoor warning sirens, police sirens, fire alarms, and outdoor lighting. By 1961, Federal Sign and Signal had gone public, trading on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

market. This was when new products started being manufactured and sold, such as the Federal Signal STH-10. In 1976, the company became Federal Signal Corporation. On Feb 22, 2000, Federal Signal Corporation announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of P.C.S. Company. On June 27, 2005, Federal Signal Corporation announced the signing of a joint venture agreement to establish a Chinese company, Federal Signal (Shanghai) Environmental & Sanitary Vehicle Company Limited, based near Shanghai, China. On February 29, 2016, Federal Signal announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Canada's largest infrastructure-maintenance equipment supplier Joe Johnson Equipment
1
, and the rights to the name and company. On May 8, 2017, Federal Signal announced the acquisition of Truck Bodies and Equipment International (TBEI), making it the owner of six dump body and trailer brands, including Crysteel, Duraclass, Rugby Manufacturing, Ox Bodies, Travis and J-Craft. On July 2, 2019, Federal Signal completed the acquisition of the assets and operations of Mark Rite Lines Equipment Company, Inc., a manufacturer of road-marking equipment. along with HighMark Traffic Services, Inc., which provides road-marking services in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. The signing of the purchase agreement was previously announced on May 14, 2019. On November 17, 2022, Federal Signal announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all the assets and operations of Blasters, Inc. (“Blasters”), a leading manufacturer of truck-mounted waterblasting equipment, for an initial purchase price of $14 million, subject to post-closing adjustments. In addition, there is a contingent earn-out payment of up to $8 million. On February 12, 2025, Federal Signal announced the acquisition of Waterblasting, LLC, owner of Hog Technologies ("Hog"), a leading U.S. manufacturer of truck-mounted road-marking, line-removal, and waterblasting equipment for an initial purchase price of $78.1 million. The initial purchase price, which was funded through existing cash on hand and borrowings under the Company's revolving credit facility, was subject to certain customary adjustments for working capital and debt-like items. In addition, there was a contingent earn-out opportunity included of up to $15 million, based on the achievement of specified financial targets during 2025. Additionally, Federal Signal entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hog's primary manufacturing facility in Stuart, Florida for $14.5 million.

Discontinued products

Federal Signal STH-10

The Federal Signal STH-10 is a discontinued omnidirectional siren produced by Federal Signal over a span of 50 years. It has twelve ports with a 10 horsepower AC Motor. Most examples are still around today.

Federal Signal Thunderbolt

The Federal Signal Thunderbolt is a discontinued series of rotating sirens produced by Federal Signal from 1952 to 1990, during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

to warn of a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can prod ...

. The three most common models made were the single-tone 1000, dual-tone 1000T, and the 1003 that came with a solenoid to make a hi-lo signal. Many towns in the United States still use Thunderbolts to warn the public in the event of severe weather, such as when a tornado warning is issued, but many Thunderbolts are now collecting rust in graveyards of companies assigned to install and remove civil defense sirens, where they can be purchased and refurbished by private collectors.

References

Company History - Federal Signal Corp. (Funding Universe)
{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Fire detection and alarm companies Emergency population warning systems Sirens Oak Brook, Illinois Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois Emergency services equipment makers Articles containing video clips

History

Discontinued products

Federal Signal STH-10

Federal Signal Thunderbolt

See also

References