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Crew Cab Vs. Regular Cab
Hi Guys, we are a few years away from replacing our main Pumper and was wondering what most of your thoughts were on the matter? We are in a rural area not supplied by alot of hydrants so I think getting the water and 3 guys to the fire scene was better than waiting 8 extra minutes to have 5 members show up, we have a manpower/equiment vehicle that will carry up to 15 members in seat belts (last vehicle out rolls after 8 minutes). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Ehh.lol
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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I would still get the extra room in the cab. Having ample room in the engine will ensure a full crew when there are people at the firehouse, or training nights. I would rather have the opportunity to have a full crew "sometimes" than have to turn people away to ride the manpower vehicle sometime within 8 minutes. In 8 minutes time a lot happens.
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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on
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We have a 2003 Freightliner 3K tanker/pumper with a regular cab. A bigger cab would have cost more and undoubtedly ours would not be used by more than a driver and assistant. We are a rural area also, with more grass/wildland fires than structure fires so most respond in brush trucks that refill with the tanker/pumper. On scene if the fire moved and the tanker was off getting water what do the FFs that rode in the tanker's crew cab ride on now? You seem to have a fast response time but the tanker is slower and needs to roll ASAP and not wait for more people to fill the cab. I would save the extra money towards another brush/crew truck. Crew cabs work great for city responding. Don't know your complete situation but the equipment should fit your needs. Works good here. Good luck and TCSS
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Permalink Reply by Kenneth on
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Do you plan on getting a commercial chassis or custom? It's worth your money to get the custom cab, as they'll last longer and you'll get your money's worth. As far as the size of the cab, I'd recommend a bigger cab with at least three SCBA seats. The other two seats could be flip down or non-SCBA seats (full seat makes it more comfortable to sit in on the ride back from a burner).
Being volunteer, a three or four man company is fine to send out the door and all the guys can be packed out upon arrival (minus the driver, of course). You'll have plenty of room for your guys in the back of the rig to move around (unlike in the POS Pierce Contenders) and you'll have room for additonal equipment, racks, etc. you might want to set up in the cab (i.e., can't afford a fancy EMS rack in between the seats, so you set up something more affordable like this: http://www.maumellefire.com/interactive2/smeal_driver_cab2.htm).
I agree with getting the three man engine company to the scene quicker. Regardless of water supply, if you have a three man engine company arrive on scene in a timely manner, you have a chance of going offensive with an aggressive, interior attack (possibly utilizing positive pressure attack if you're department is using this effective method). Even if things are defensive and you know you'd exhaust onboard water supply from the booster tank, you might be able to save an exposure. It would be a whole lot easier to do that with more manpower on your rig vs. only having two people who can fit.
Out of curiousity, how many vehicles does your department have? How many engines, tankers, etc. Possibly a change in response order, training on the apparatus if not enough qualified drivers, obtaining affordable tankers to assist with the water supply problem (doesn't have to be fancy...tank & a simple auxillary pump if your dept. is really strapped for cash). Sounds like the EQ van seating 15 people seat belted is nothing more than a 15 passenger van...if that's the case, doesn't seem like there's room for much "essential" equipment.
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Permalink Reply by RES67CUE on
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i love regular cab but i run with a city company so we have smalll streets and i think they look nicer
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Permalink Reply by A.J. on
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the last two engines that we have purchased have been custom cabs. our main attack engine is a crew cab sutphen 1999 1,000 gal tank 1250GPM pump it is a excellent truck. the latest apparatus we have purchased is a custom cab pumper/tanker 1000 gal tank 1250GPM pump gravity dump empty the truck into a dump tank in 45 seconds we just got it in early september. it is basically a mini 201 (our main attack engine) so our new truck is pretty awesome i think custom cabs are a better choice but that is my opionion. 4Guys fire trucks out of penn. built ours. the pics of our new truck is on my profile feel free to check it out.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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go big or go home... you never have enough room, and futuring for more fire fighters in the future is a good call. looking at most fire engines, crew cabs seem to be the standard now. my department is 100% KME and we purchase them with other departments to bring the costs way down...
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Permalink Reply by Brian Richards on
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http://www.cypresscreekvfd.com/operations/apparatus/e21.html
Something like this, 500 HP Detroit Diesel, 1500 GPM single stage pump, 1250 gallon tank, 40 Gallons Class A foam, 40 Gallons Class B foam, 8 preconnected foam inducted attack lines, top mount pump panel, electric LDH intakes, 10 man cab designed for 7 for comfort, automatic flip down entry steps, light tower, 10K generator. All trucks have VHF low, VHF high and UHF band mobile radios.
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Permalink Reply by Trainer on
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Good question.
My thoughts on trucks is do not duplicate. We are also a small rural dept; we have 3 eng's set up on a 10 year rotation. With today’s trucks, alum body, poly tanks, and ss piping, diesel motors, they should go 30. We also have a heavy rescue w/seating for 6 that is rolled on all calls. One engine is a 4 door freight shaker, I’ll skip the details, this truck is specifically for structure fires, big pump big hose, 1000gal water, second engine is an all purpose rig, 2 door, 1000gal water, and caries extra extraction equipment, and more hose, some of which is to feed(LDH) the first eng. Last is….well our 60 somthin ford pos that is used for field fires, we will replace it this year, with a 2 door IH 4x4 class A. There is a few points to all of this, if you are going to structure fire, you need manpower hence the 4 door. With today’s economy you need to think about multi purpose multi use and do not duplicate, even look to your MA and try not to duplicate them. Think about what you have and what you need and build your fleet from there. Another consideration is OSHA and ISO; OSHA will cover the manpower saftey/issuses, and ISO, well…..if you can buy a truck that will lower/help your rating, then you save the taxpayer money and can justify the 300,000 plus for the new truck. Make any sense or have I had too much coffee this morning?
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Permalink Reply by Karl Campbell on
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We have 3 our main Pumper 1000 gals and our Pumper/Tanker 1200 gals as well as our Man power/equipment vehicle the 15 passenger is a 1998 Handi-Trans bus it seated 24 we took out the back couple of seats placed a chain link fence in between the last set of seats and back of bus. Works for us and lessens liability.
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Yeah That's a beauty, I would not want to guess the $ amount but nice truck!!!
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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A critical factor in purchasing any new diesel truck is the new EPA emissions requirements for low-sulphur diesel. The exhaust filtration systems have special requirements including more space and periodic exhaust filter regeneration.
The space problem is a lot more pronounced in commercial chassis than in custom. We are in the process of taking deliver of 10 new custom pumpers, and the space let us include the new exhaust system without intruding on the space necessary to service the motor or pump. We would not have been able to do that with any commercial chassis currently made.
We actually offset the pre-piped deck gun to the left side over the pump panel in order to keep the vertical exhaust stack (heat and gases) away from the deck pipe operator. We have manual deck guns and driver's side-mounted midship pump panels on the new engines.
For volunteer departments, I'd still include space for at least 4 firefighters, regardless of what chassis is chosen. That gives you an intact crew that can talk to each other without resorting to the radio during MA responses, or responses when you have more than 2 or 3 people at the station.
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