Customer Corner : A TCAP Colonoscopy - A Look Deep into the Bowels of Xtreme Manufacturing

Don’t flinch at the headline, it was chosen for a reason. It’s a fitting nod to shithouses Xtreme Manufacturing, that Nevada-based behemoth churning out telehandlers and lifting gear like some mechanical monster. XM isn’t just another cog in the machine – it’s a festering sore on the arse of American capitalism. Owned by Don Ahern, a billionaire with a Trump-sized ego and a penchant for controversy, this outfit embodies everything wrong with unchecked power: racism spewed like cheap beer, public health gambles that could kill, and a laundry list of lawsuits that read like a criminal’s rap sheet. And get this – they’re a customer of Cummins, those engine giants, making them yet another player in the Cummins ecosystem with some seriously alternative ideas on ethical behaviour. It’s like finding out your favourite steakhouse sources meat from a slaughterhouse that tortures the cows for fun. But enough foreplay; let’s dive into the muck.

The Racist Underbelly: Slurs, Guns, and Hirning Hate

Picture this: a boardroom in Henderson, Nevada, where the air’s thick with the stench of bigotry. Don Ahern, the self-made mogul behind Xtreme and its sister companies, allegedly drops the N-word like it’s punctuation. “We don’t like hiring n-ggers. They are dumb. They are just born that way.” That’s not some fever dream; it’s straight from a 2022 lawsuit and a 2024 deposition by his own former general counsel. Ahern’s accused of barking orders to axe anyone over 60, any Mexicans, women, or Black folks because, in his twisted world, they’re “useless.” His son Evan chimes in with gems like “We do not hire n-ggers at Ahern Rentals,” and Don piles on about fat people being health risks. Christ, it’s like a KKK rally disguised as a business meeting.

But it gets grittier. Ahern’s alleged to have pulled a goddamn gun on a Black truck driver while hurling that same slur. Armed threats in the workplace? That’s not leadership; that’s thuggery. The lawsuit, filed by a former employee in California, settled out of court – probably with a fat cheque to shut him up – but the damage lingers like a bad hangover. Civil rights heavyweights like Rev. Al Sharpton demanded investigations, pointing fingers at Ahern’s cosy ties to the GOP and Trump. Nevada’s Attorney General got a letter, but crickets. Meanwhile, social media’s ablaze with ex-employees calling Ahern a “liar, thief, and racist” who tosses slurs around meetings like confetti. One even whispers his first wife ditched him for a woman, fuelling his misogyny. If this is the culture at the top, imagine the rot trickling down to the factory floor. It’s enough to make you puke.

Pandemic Profiteering: Superspreaders for Votes

Fast forward to 2020, when the world was choking on COVID-19, and Xtreme decides to host a Trump rally in their warehouse. Five thousand six hundred maskless morons crammed indoors, thumbing their noses at Nevada’s 50-person limit. Ahern knew the rules – the city warned him – but he flipped them the bird, calling it his “patriotic duty.” Masks? Provided but ignored. Social distancing? A joke. This wasn’t a gathering; it was a potential mass grave, echoing Trump’s Tulsa fiasco that spiked local cases.

The city slapped them with a measly $3,000 fine for six violations, on top of prior hits for similar stunts at Ahern’s hotel. But here’s the hypocrisy that burns: Xtreme hawked $40,000 decontamination cubes during the pandemic, cashing in on the fear they helped spread. None used at the rally, of course. Ahern sued the governor over “inconsistent enforcement,” whining about protests and casinos getting a pass. OSHA got complaints about Xtreme’s safety lapses even before this shitshow. Public health be damned; it was all about political brownie points. Thousands endangered for a photo op-how’s that for American exceptionalism? It’s bloody infuriating, the kind of greed that kills grannies and kids while the suits laugh to the bank.

Worker Exploitation: Wages Stolen, Breaks Denied

Don’t think the scandals stop at hate speech and health hazards. Xtreme’s got a rap sheet for screwing over the very people building their empire. A 2020 class-action lawsuit in California accused them of wage theft: no overtime, no meal breaks, no reimbursements for tools workers shelled out for. Exposure? Nearly two million bucks. They settled, naturally, sweeping it under the rug.

Employee reviews online paint a hellscape: low pay that barely covers rent, a toxic atmosphere where management’s a nightmare, and favouritism running rampant. Ratings hover around a dismal 2.7 out of 5 – like grading a turd on freshness. Add in OSHA fines for safety violations upheld in 2018, and Clark County’s 2025 slap for air pollution at their facility, racking up over $11,000. These aren’t slip-ups; they’re patterns. Workers treated like disposable parts in a machine, breathing in fumes while bosses count their billions. It’s the gritty reality of blue-collar life under pricks like Ahern – no glory, just grind and betrayal.

Lawsuits Galore: Fraud, Injuries, and Dirty Deals

The courtroom’s Ahern’s second home. Product liability suits like the 2020 Hoyt case allege Xtreme’s gear caused injuries-defective telehandlers tipping lives upside down. Another 2022 civil rights tangle, possibly more discrimination dirt. But the real kicker? Fraud allegations tying into a Ponzi scheme. In 2024, insurers and banks sued Ahern for shuffling assets to dodge payouts from earlier judgments. Linked to the DC Solar scam, where Ahern Rentals pocketed $33 million in dodgy deals from a solar fraudster.

Trade secret spats too: suing competitors in 2020 for nicking ideas, with appeals dragging into 2023. It’s a web of deceit, where Xtreme and its kin operate like a mafia family-shifting blame, hiding cash, and crushing anyone in the way. And remember, this is all while peddling heavy machinery powered by Cummins engines, as confirmed in their own product specs and industry reports. Yet another link in that chain where ethics take a back seat to profits. How many more skeletons before someone pulls the plug?

The Cummins Connection: Engines of Ethical Evasion

Speaking of engines, let’s not gloss over Xtreme’s reliance on Cummins. Their telehandlers roar with Cummins diesel power – 3.8L, 15L, you name it – pumping out the muscle for these beasts. It’s right there in their specs, touted in videos and expos. But in the Cummins ecosystem, Xtreme stands out as a bad apple, peddling alternative ethics like bigotry and recklessness. Cummins powers the world, from dozers to grinders, yet associates with this? It’s a reminder that supply chains hide horrors; your reliable engine might fuel a monster.

The Bigger Picture: A System Built on Bullshit

In the end, Xtreme Manufacturing isn’t an anomaly; it’s the symptom of a diseased system where billionaires like Ahern play god. Trump donor, rally host, alleged racist gun-toter – he’s the American dream turned nightmare. From endangering lives in a pandemic to fostering hate in the workplace, this company’s legacy is one of shame. Workers suffer, minorities flee, and the public pays the price. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s revolting. Time to call it out, loud and unapologetic: fuck this noise. Demand better, or we’re all complicit in the filth.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Customer Corner : A TCAP Colonoscopy – A Look Deep into the Bowels of Xtreme Manufacturing