By Alan M. Petrillo

Sales of aerial ladders vs. aerial platforms change with the year-with one type of aerial jumping ahead of the other only to switch places a year later.

But there's one style of aerial that seems to continue to hold its own in popularity year after year: the quint, a combination vehicle that marries a pumper and aerial device into a single piece of apparatus.

Quints are being used by a wide assortment of fire departments, from career departments in major cities and suburban districts to many volunteer fire companies. Chapter 9 of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, sets forth the criteria that must be met for an apparatus to be considered a quint according to the standard. Some items include having a fire pump with a minimum capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute (gpm); an aerial ladder or elevating platform with a permanently installed waterway; a water tank with a minimum capacity of 300 gallons; a minimum of 30 cubic feet of storage area for 2½-inch or larger fire hose and two areas, each with a minimum of 3½ cubic feet, for 1½-inch or larger preconnected fire hose; and a minimum of 85 feet of ground ladders, including at least one extension ladder, one roof ladder, and one attic ladder.

The St. Paul (MN) Fire Department chose Pierce Manufacturing to build this 105-foot heavy-duty ladder quint on a Dash CF chassis tandem axle with a 1,500-gpm PUC pump and a 300-gallon water tank. (Photo courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing.)

By Response Area

Tim Smits, senior manager of national sales and product support for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says that with shrinking budgets, fire departments large and small have been consolidating truck companies with engine companies. "There has been a big drive in metropolitan and urban-suburban departments to do more with less, and the quint gives them that ability," Smits says. "They also are popular in suburban departments where a 75-foot quint can carry adequate water and hose and meet the need for an aerial ladder, especially where there is commercial and light industrial construction."

However, Smits hasn't seen much quint use in rural fire departments. "I think it probably has more to do with staffing and weight considerations, where roads and bridges may not be able to handle the additional weight of a pump and water on a quint," he says. "Besides the aerial ladder, you add about 5,000 pounds for the water and tank and another 2,000 pounds for the fire pump besides any additional equipment you put on the quint."

Pierce makes quints in both platform and straight stick configurations in 75-, 85-, 100-, and 105-foot aerial lengths. "We're seeing many more quints now than traditional truck companies," Smits observes, "somewhere around 70 percent quints to 30 percent traditional trucks."

Rosenbauer built this 114-foot rear-mount platform quint on a Commander chassis with a tandem rear axle for the Valley-Kempton (Nova Scotia, Canada) Fire District Brigade. It has a Hale 2,000-gpm QMax pump and a 500-gallon water tank. (Photo courtesy of Rosenbauer.)

Pete Hoherchak, aerial products manager for KME, says that while 70 to 75 percent of KME's aerial products have pumps and water tanks on them, they usually don't fit the standard for a true quint. "Departments putting a pump and water tan

John E. Sztykiel

My past two articles have been focused on the theme of "Wrestling the Gorilla," with the gorilla being the economy.

Spartan, and our industry as a whole, will wear down the gorilla through innovation in products, processes, and facilities. In other words, we will grow the industry while serving others in spite of the fact that we continue to operate in a very challenging economy.

As I talk with other providers of equipment and services in our industry, most, if not all, are seeing growth in business. When asked why, the common thread in all their answers is innovation. Innovation is not easy. Innovation is another word for change, and change can be difficult. The main reason being, people have to change for innovation to happen, and most people do not like change. I know I don't like to change, but over the years I have found it easier to alter my behavior and change rather than fight it.

So what is the greatest source of innovation in the industry? Most would agree that consumers drive a majority of the improvements we see because consumers know what their needs are and their areas of responsibility better than anyone else. As a result, great organizations have a laser focus on the consumer. One such company that I visited had business cards for the receptionist that read, "Director of First Impressions." What great clarity relative to that person's foremost responsibility. Disney is another great example. At these theme parks, everywhere you go you see "Where Dreams Come True," or "Imagine."

One trap that companies often fall into is focusing on only the departments that have clear, disciplined processes that revolve around the customer, such as sales, engineering, and marketing. This shortsighted focus leaves major opportunities for improvement in areas such as finance, purchasing, information technology, quality, production, legal, human resources, and more. In reality, every department has some sort of impact on or interaction with the consumer. Being aware of that interaction and improving on it can lead to positive innovation of products and services because everyone will be closer to delivering:

1. What consumers need-things they are asking for.
2. What the consumers desire-things they haven't asked for or don't know to ask for.

We are wrestling the gorilla, our economy, and gaining momentum. Although we are not at 2005 or 2006 shipment levels, as we continue to focus on the consumer in all areas of our operations, our momentum will grow and the gorilla will be pinned.

JOHN E. SZTYKIEL has been president and chief executive officer of Spartan Motors, Inc. since 2002. He has been with the company since 1985, serving in a number of operations, sales, and marketing positions during his tenure, including president and chief operating officer from 1992 until 2002. He has been a director since 1988. He is a past president of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association (FAMA) board.

By Bill Adams

Despite the good intentions of fire apparatus purchasing committees (APCs), they can inadvertently place themselves in awkward and uncomfortable situations by promulgating ineffectual purchasing specifications.

In particular, APCs should avoid writing specifications (specs) that may generate questions the committee can't answer. The intent of this article is to help keep spec writers from unintentionally placing themselves in such a position. It is directed at fire departments that follow formal bidding procedures, whether by choice or by edict, with the presumption of receiving competitive proposals. It is immaterial whether the specification format is generic, performance, or proprietary. It matters not if it is a career or volunteer entity. Nor does it matter if the APC, a consultant, or a vendor writes the document. Likewise, it is irrelevant if the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) is a city council, town board, board of fire commissioners, or governing body of a volunteer fire company.

Readers must understand the basic premise of competitive bidding. Through the APC, the AHJ publishes, in quantifiable and comparable terms, a technical purchasing specification describing what it wants to purchase. Writing quantifiable and comparable verbiage is very important. It is the key to a successful bidding process. Bidders submit proposals based solely on the written verbiage in a specification. The APC and AHJ compare and evaluate what bidders propose to what was specified and then make a purchasing decision. It sounds simple enough. However, specification wording that is subject to multiple interpretations or has no definitive meaning can render the process difficult at the least and impossible at the most.

Leave No Doubt

A quantifiable item in a specification is one that is clearly defined. It has specific criteria that can be evaluated such as dimensions, sizes, capacities, and even manufacturer and model numbers of component parts and pieces. There should be no doubt as to what the verbiage means and what the fire department expects. Spec writers must establish a definitive baseline or benchmark to compare proposals.

The purchaser can set that benchmark as high or as low as it deems necessary by words alone. And, it can be done without necessarily writing a proprietary specification around a particular manufacturer. To illustrate, a specification may read, "There shall be one large compartment above each rear wheel." A "large" compartment cannot be measured, evaluated, or compared. It is a useless description because it is not quantifiable. It can have different meanings to different people. Any size compartment proposed will legally meet the specification. If the purchaser does not care how big the compartment is, the "large" description is adequate although not required. A similar spec may read, "There shall be one compartment with approximately 13 cubic feet above each rear wheel." The word approximately is another immeasurable description that cannot be evaluated. It's as useless as large-save the ink. Again, if any size compartment is acceptable, the word approximate will suffice but again is not required or necessary.

A measurable spec may read, "There shall be one compartment with no less than 13 cubic feet above each rear wheel." This establishes a benchmark that purchasers can use to evaluate and compare proposals. A bidder proposing a compartment with less than 13 cubic feet does not meet the specification; one proposing 13 cubic feet or more does.

A more precise specification is, "There shall be one compartment with 13 cubic feet above each rear wheel." Bids proposing more or less than 13 cubic feet will not meet the technical specification as written. Only those proposing exactly 13 cubic feet will. Hence, literal descriptions are imperative. Abstract desc

Chris Mc Loone

A fan of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Facebook page recently commented on a picture shared there. There were two pieces of apparatus in the image-a 2005 engine and a 1984 tanker (tender), both in service with the same department.

He commented that there are many departments in the United States that are operating with dated equipment and that many departments talk about how hard they have it when they actually have a new truck parked in the station full of equipment that the crew needs to do its job. He said, "Put yourself in a real station that struggles but works with what it has and strives to be the best it can be with what it has." Pretty strong words there. He later sent a picture that we featured containing three of his department's apparatus. The newest apparatus in the picture is a 1979 Ford pumper. All three apparatus are from the 1970s.

Recent years have seen the fire service endure some of the toughest times it has experienced. Terms like "multipurpose apparatus" are the result of these times. The economy tanked, municipalities scaled back their budgets, and consequently the number of new apparatus purchased went down. Departments merged two trucks into one-not an entirely new concept, but for many it became a new necessity. Staffing levels dropped. But for many, this was nothing new.

We're lucky enough to have Carl Haddon, our "To the Rescue" columnist, who sheds much-needed light on the issues that impact rural fire departments in his monthly "Rurally Speaking" Web article. The fact is that for many of us, the current "do more with less" mantra is relatively new. Fire departments have always struggled to secure the same funding as our police brethren, but for many of us with 20 or fewer years of service, adjusting to the current atmosphere has been a challenge. This is not so, however, for departments like Haddon's. They have endured much worse for much longer. He says, "We laugh in frustration when we hear phrases such as 'additional resources' because we know that additional resources are at least a couple of hours away-if they are available at all. I don't know about you, but throughout my tenure with a rural department, I have often felt as though we are an island that the rest of the world doesn't really understand." The realities that many municipalities have faced since 2008 are nothing compared to what rural fire departments have faced for far longer.

And now, the fire service trade show season is ramping up. As it does, there is always a buzz revolving around upcoming product introductions, whether they be apparatus- or equipment-related. I'll be at some of the national shows and some of the regional shows. I'll be there for both work and my fire company. I'll be keeping tabs on what's new on the apparatus and equipment fronts as our apparatus purchasing committee begins creating specifications for a new rescue truck. However, there are many who will not be able to get to any show, not even to kick tires. For these departments, the realities are that no matter what the innovation is, how great it is, or how it will increase efficiencies on the fireground, it is unattainable in most cases.

And, the worst part is that there isn't an easy answer. Economies of scale are what they are. Although the audience member seemed frustrated at the realities before him, there was also an undercurrent of pride. "Put yourself in a real station that struggles but works with what it has and strives to be the best it can be with what it has," he said. That pride is what I think pervades all aspects of the fire service.

There isn't a firefighter or fire officer around who does not take pride in his department or company. If you don't, then you need to move on. Every one of us aspires to do our best with what we have. It is true that most of us are asked to do