Roadman,
I started doing apparatus "stuff" in the mid 90's and like you guys started as a group attempting to write some specs for a new engine. That to say the least it was a learning experience. We used a spec from a dealer and it went to bid. The bid was won by the original dealer and to be honest it wasn't a bad truck, but defiently was more on the line of what the dealer and manufacturer wanted and less of what we actually needed. It served well or should I say "ok" for the years it was in service, but the between the lines things that we missed definetly came back to bite us. Many of these things were due to the inexperience and the fact that the erra of the apparatus had changed significantly from the last purchased unit in the station.
Later on in life I was in charge of a ladder/tower project much like the one that you all are taking on. We were going from a rear mount ladder to a rear mount platform. Taking what I learned from the engine project things ran a little better. We invited as many aerial builders to bring a unit to our area. We had a specific route planned as well as specific tasks that we wanted the aerial to perform. This gave us a chance to evaluate mid mounts platforms, rear mount platforms as well as rear mount ladders. After the evaluation we were able to "see" exactly what the lastest and greatest was as well as how they performed on out turf. After each manufacturer brought their unit to us, we were able to write our spec specific of what we wanted to accomplish with aerial and we were able to fill in between the lines. Now, I won't say everything was perfect, but things seemed to work well and the truck has been very reliable.
I am now fortunate to be on the apparatus committee for my job and it is has definetly helped me keep up on the latest laws, rules and regulations. If you need any help or have any questions feel free to drop me a note.
I started doing apparatus "stuff" in the mid 90's and like you guys started as a group attempting to write some specs for a new engine. That to say the least it was a learning experience. We used a spec from a dealer and it went to bid. The bid was won by the original dealer and to be honest it wasn't a bad truck, but defiently was more on the line of what the dealer and manufacturer wanted and less of what we actually needed. It served well or should I say "ok" for the years it was in service, but the between the lines things that we missed definetly came back to bite us. Many of these things were due to the inexperience and the fact that the erra of the apparatus had changed significantly from the last purchased unit in the station.
Later on in life I was in charge of a ladder/tower project much like the one that you all are taking on. We were going from a rear mount ladder to a rear mount platform. Taking what I learned from the engine project things ran a little better. We invited as many aerial builders to bring a unit to our area. We had a specific route planned as well as specific tasks that we wanted the aerial to perform. This gave us a chance to evaluate mid mounts platforms, rear mount platforms as well as rear mount ladders. After the evaluation we were able to "see" exactly what the lastest and greatest was as well as how they performed on out turf. After each manufacturer brought their unit to us, we were able to write our spec specific of what we wanted to accomplish with aerial and we were able to fill in between the lines. Now, I won't say everything was perfect, but things seemed to work well and the truck has been very reliable.
I am now fortunate to be on the apparatus committee for my job and it is has definetly helped me keep up on the latest laws, rules and regulations. If you need any help or have any questions feel free to drop me a note.
Facebook
Google
Reddit
Twitter