Fairfax County VA

[alex3610]

I have several on-going rantings about brand new tillers versus rear mount aerial ladders which can be read in this or the PWC thread. In summary, today's tiller ladder trucks, aka TDAs; are behemoths compared to their predecessors; what is gained in maneuverability is lost in the overall size of the rig. I truly believe that cities like Baltimore and Washington DC benefit from TDA's where negotiating smaller side streets and accessing alleys is the necessary norm for effective ladder company coverage. Aside from very narrow streets within planned mult-family habitational unit communities (i.e. townhouse/apartment complexes, I fail to see a compelling reason for spending taxpayer money on three TDA's when the same money would purchase four rear mount aerial ladder trucks (not platforms). This issue can be addressed when developers submit their plans for review and by having crews do driver training in the evenings when these parking areas tend to be fuller. As stated elsewhere, under equal conditions, I will put our best RM drivers in one of the FRD's existing Pierce RM's against a crew of equal ability in one of the new TDA's at any spot in the county and see who gets the best tactical position the fastest.


Oh by the way, latest intel confirms the cabs will be red-roofed (foam trucks? ha ha ha), white from from roofline down to the bottom of the window line and red below.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Fairfax County, but you mention the townhouse/apartment complexes as having narrow streets and you speak of them as being sort of the exception there.  By my eyes, these sort of places are in the hundreds if not thousands in Fairfax County.  They are literally everywhere.  The extreme levels of congestion everywhere there make maneuverability an issue on the arterial streets as well.  I don't think the TDA's are inappropriate at all.  Are they expensive?  Absolutely.  But as Dr. Feelgood alluded to, their purchasing process doesn't appear to be the most "competitive" in the world, so if money really were an issue there are plenty of ways to make these more reasonable from a cost perspective.  For anyone that is interested, here is a neat video of a TDA in Seattle, WA (tandem axle tractor no less) navigating the "chicane streets" in Seattle.  Their drivers will tell you that their straight body trucks will NOT make it down these streets.    http://youtu.be/QXcqFtPNLn8