On September 1, 2026, an Altec customer reported that a step on one of the company’s aerial devices had broken while an operator was using it. A month and a day later, on October 2, Altec filed a recall with NHTSA covering 6,780 units, and told the agency it expects 55 percent of them to have the weld problem.
The step in question is the turntable-mounted platform access step, the foothold personnel use to reach the platform or operator station. Altec reports a recall number of CSN-3374 and an owner-notification date of November 27, 2026.
A weld that fails between tube and plate
Altec’s defect report describes an insufficient weld between the step tube and its mounting plate, a butt joint at the step mounting plate. The affected part is the sidemount bolt-on step, part number 991706418, and the steps came from two Tier 1 suppliers, Spectrum Metalcraft of Salina, Kansas, and Shamrad Metal Fabricators of St. Joseph, Missouri.
The geometry matters. A step on a turntable is a working surface, stepped on by an operator or lineworker who is about to be raised to a height; a step that shifts under that load puts the worker’s weight on a joint nobody expected to move. If the weld gives way, the step can separate from the vehicle or become unstable while personnel are using it. The NHTSA campaign record states the consequence as an increased risk of a fall or injury. Altec’s report adds a field-visible clue: weld cracking or rust bleeding from the weld area may show up during a daily preoperational inspection, which is the point at which an operator could catch a failing step before climbing it.
Twenty-four days from broken step to defect decision
The sequence ran fast, and every date comes from Altec’s own chronology. Altec opened a root-cause and field-action investigation on September 2 and contained its on-hand inventory. On September 3 it met the owner, examined the weld, and replaced steps that failed visual weld inspection. A Certified Welding Inspector started inspections on September 15, including magnetic particle testing, and destructive testing was done on returned steps. The inspector’s final report reached Altec on September 17.
On September 25, Altec determined that a potential defect existed and that a field campaign was needed. The report does not fill in the cause section beyond the weld finding, and Altec says it has no other warranty claims, field reports, accidents, injuries or deaths tied to the issue.
The 55 percent defect rate is the unusual number. It is Altec’s own estimate, and it means the company expects more than half of the 6,780 steps to be bad, and the report puts no count on field failures to set beside it. The report explains how the population was built: Altec compared the supplier purchase-date ranges for the steps against its production records, which sweeps in every vehicle that received a step during the suspect purchase window from either supplier, and it explains why the unit count is so much larger than the single failure that started the inquiry.
AA, AN and AM series, A-Class and digger derricks
The 6,780 units are not all bucket trucks. The AA Series aerial device dominates the population at 5,444 units built from February 1, 2020 through September 30, 2026. The AN Series adds 1,075 units from 2021 onward and the AM Series 246 units from 2023 onward, each through September 30, 2026. The remaining 15 vehicles are 12 A-Class vehicles from 2024 and 2025 and 3 digger derricks from 2024 through 2026.
Altec sells to electric utilities, telecommunications firms, contractors, sign and lighting crews and tree care companies, according to its product listings. Those buyers deal with Altec directly, since the report notes that Altec has no dealer network, so the company’s own letters and phone line are the route for every owner.
Altec will replace the steps with newly built conforming steps whose welds have enough penetration to meet the design load, at no cost. Altec’s filing carries a “Do Not Drive” and park-outside advisory. Owner letters are planned for November 27, 2026 in a phased recall, and owners can reach Altec customer service at 1-877-462-5832 under recall number CSN-3374. A unit can be checked by VIN at NHTSA’s recall search, and the row shows up in the agency’s public recall feed as “Platform Access Step May Separate from Vehicle.” On the manufacturing side, a Certified Welding Inspector now visually inspects every step weld, and steps with insufficient welds are scrapped or reworked. The report gives no count of the steps already fitted to trucks would fail that inspection standard, and it gives no count of the steps Altec replaced at the owner’s site on September 3.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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