Custom vs. Commercial Monday, March 9, 2009  - I receive many questions via email and phone and one of the most frequently asked questions do we buy a custom fire truck chassis or a commercial fire truck chassis. Why you might ask is this under the Emergency Vehicle column heading and not the Apparatus Architect? Although everything that I write and lecture about has one goal in mind and that is firefighter safety it seemed to fit best here. The whole intent of this column is to promote firefighter safety, save lives and to reduce on the job injuries.  With all the great work that is being done by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the Federal Government the Unions, manufactures and other fire service organizations to reduce the firefighter line of duty death rate, the fact is that at the present rate, by years end over 140 firefighters will have died in the line of duty. We have averaged around 100 line of duty deaths per year over the past decade. The increase in the number of line of duty deaths, so far this year is truly alarming.                 Today’s fire apparatus represent the biggest financial investment for most fire departments and municipalities. So as the cost of fire apparatus continues to increase municipalities and fire departments continue to struggle with the need to balance the purchase of safe, cost affective fire apparatus at the same time needing to be mindful of budget constraints.                     Generally custom apparatus cost anywhere from $20,000.00 - $40,000.00 more than commercial chassis apparatus depending on options. What are Custom chassis apparatus? Why would you pay a $40,000.00 premium for a Custom apparatus? Custom apparatus are also referred to at times as cab forward apparatus as the cab is forward of the engine. You can buy custom chassis apparatus from all major apparatus manufactures for example Pierce, Emergency One, Seagrave, KME, Suphten, Ferrera, Crimson, American LaFrance, just to name a few.                 Commercial chassis are also called, at times engine forward apparatus. Commercial chassis are those that were manufactured by Freightliner, Navistar/International, Sterling, GMC, Mack, Peterbilt, Kenworth, White/Volvo, just to name a few.                 I have been fortunate, thanks to many of you, to have amassed thousands of pictures of wrecked fire trucks. Each of the pictures tell the same story. If you are in a custom chassis apparatus and you roll the apparatus completely over, with your seatbelt on, short of hitting a fixed object like a tree or bridge abutment, you can generally unbuckle and in many cases walk away. If you are in a commercial chassis apparatus and you roll the apparatus over the roof will generally end up even with the dash board. On commercial chassis due to the design and construction of the roof posts, the “A” post tends to bend or roll during impact, causing the roof to shift in the direction opposite of the impact.      During rollover the a and b posts actually roll with the vehicle as pictured in Photo #1. Generally commercial cab apparatus are not designed to support the weight of the roof. Why do custom apparatus tend to with- stand the affects of rollover so much better than their commercial counter parts? Fully enclosed four door cab apparatus are generally constructed of aluminum or stainless steel tubing in the roof area to support the weight of the roof, and any attended equipment. In addition the material thickness and design of the A post at the windshield and the other supporting cab side walls are generally designed of heavier material with additional interior support to provide protection for the crew. Also many custom apparatus manufacturers have done some form of crash testing on their cabs. Some custom chassis manufactures actually offer some kind of airbag rollover protection packages for their chassis. This in conjunction with crash testing and rollover protection generally provides superior protection for the personnel riding inside of the cab.                 I have two case studies that show the stark difference. The first occurred in Alabama where firefighters were responding to a brush fire when their commercial apparatus rolled over rounding a curve. A female firefighter was crushed and trapped in the cab for a couple of hours she died even though she had her seatbelt on. In the second case study Phoenix Engine 37 was responding to a medical call when a car in an opposing lane locked the brakes up and the driver turned the wheel while in the skid. When the civilian driver let off on the brakes the car steered right in front of Engine 37. Engine 37 was nearly knocked into a utility pole, the driver of the apparatus due to excellent driving skills, was able to avoid a direct hit of the pole. As he swerved to avoid the pole Engine 37 then went across the road end up into a fence and rolled over a couple of times. The back end of the apparatus was totally destroyed, however the cab stayed in tact. The only intrusion into the cab was that the front windshield popped out (Photo # 1). All on board Engine 37 were wearing seatbelts. The crew of Engine 37 were all able to unbuckle and walk away, while the most serious injury was a shoulder separation.                 This is not to say that every incident will result in the same results, however two important facts cannot be understated. First, a comprehensive driver training and re-qualification program will help insure that the department’s drivers have been given the appropriate level of training for the important tasks that they undertake every time they get behind the wheel of an emergency vehicle. Secondly, making sure that each department specifies that needed and required safety devices on every piece of apparatus and having enforceable SOG’s that require all personnel to be seated and belted will help to insure that “Everyone goes Home” from every run.