After a bit of a hiatus, my department’s truck committee has reconvened and is moving forward. We had a couple of missteps, added a couple of new people but I think we’re back on track. I promised you updates as we move forward.
One misstep we made is we invited a sales representative to one of our first meetings. It was done against all the advice I’d ever heard and know from classes I’ve taken at conferences over the years. We had a vague idea of what we thought we needed, but not enough to call in a sales representative.
The salesperson was polite, knowledgeable and offered great suggestions, but after the meeting, we realized he was in the driver’s seat, not us. He was telling us things about his company, his competitors and all good stuff, but premature. Because we really didn’t know what we wanted, he put forth things he thought we needed.
It wasn’t his fault because if hadn’t given a presentation, there would have been a lot of silence and thinking rather than discussing. Sales reps want to get in early in the process because they can help influence decisions and sway committees and decision making, shaping the process and, ultimately, making a sale. It’s the nature of the business and good and savvy sales people know that. Being the first in and leaving impressions and information is part of marketing 101. The customers will instinctively compare what they heard from the first salesman with any others who follow.
So, as a lesson learned, have your stuff together before you start talking to sales representatives or you might end up with something they want to sell you rather than what you need. Don’t get me wrong, they have an important role in the process and their time will come – just not at the first shot of the marathon that will become the apparatus spec’ing process.
I know the last time I wrote about our progress, I thought having a vendor come in early was OK, it wasn't. We ended up getting side tracked with a price quote that was startling for something we really didn't want. I wish we had heeded the advice we had about holding off on talking to sales reps. It's an easy mistake to make as the committee is gung ho to get to the bottom line without evaluating needs and desires with a dose of reality.
As a refresher, my department is in search of a front line pumper to replace one built on a Simon Duplex cab and chassis in 1990 by one of the big builders still in business today. It’s been a fine truck and served the community well and we’ll likely invite that builder back to the table to talk about building its replacement.
We will also be retiring a 1,800-gallon tanker/tender that just hauls water (no pump). So, we’ve got to think about carrying a few more gallons on our new engine. Our front line pumper hauls 1,000-gallons.
Even though we’re more than a year out from even asking voters to fund our new pumper, we’d like to get moving on very specific details of what we need and what we would like to have. We know we’re not likely to get everything we want, but like the Rolling Stones’ tune says we just might find we’ll get what we need. And we’ll need time to sell it to a town budget committee and other decision makers before it even gets to our taxpayers for a vote.
Our committee has been looking at our needs quite extensively, and from what I have picked up over the years, that’s a very good place to start with apparatus specifications. Some of the needs are very basic and almost seem idiotic mentioning, but they are foundational to a pumper. Every one of them need water and a pump. Yeah, you might be thinking, duhhh…. But when you think about it, until you really know those basics, there’s no point in looking at body configurations, power plants and accessories before determining tank and pump requirements. We also happen to think Class A foam is a foundational basic need too.
We’ve also determined we need a lot more compartment space than we have now. In the nearly quarter century our engine has been in service, we’ve acquired a lot more stuff and literally, we’re having trouble with closing the cabinet doors. We’ve been blessed with a community that has supported us and funded our equipment needs generously. But, once something goes on the apparatus, rarely does it come off. At least that’s our experience, and we’re probably not alone in that “dilemma.”
We initially thought about a pumper/tanker with 2,500-gallons of water to get close to replicating the water we carry on the pumper and the soon-to-be-retired 1983 tanker. But when we started looking at the length, weight and chassis requirements, it became obvious that it was going to be a huge truck and not something we were interested in having in our station.
We’re now thinking about 1,800-gallons, maybe 1,500-gallons, which we can place on a single-axle rear end with a 33,000-pound rear axle. We have an idea of what we want for an engine and transmission, but we’re going to let the manufacturers and the salespeople help us out with that. They have teams of engineers who will guide us through that aspect. We’ve got truck drivers and people experienced with heavy equipment on the committee, so we’ll at least have a clue whether what we’re being sold will work, or if it’s a way to reduce the bid by reducing the horsepower and the transmission rating.
To figure out many of the other details and accessories, we’ve been studying websites, looking at new deliveries, including those found in Firehouse magazine and the apparatus showcase on Firehouse.com, picking out features and designs we like.
Many apparatus websites offer downloads of engineering drawings that provide detail that we’re finding useful. At the very least, it’s getting the creative juices going and generating lots of discussion.
Since I last wrote about our committee, we’ve had two meeting and at each, we’ve hauled out a video screen and a projector and had our own dog and pony show examining offerings from a variety of manufacturers far and wide. We take notes about what we like and things we need to know more about before making any decisions, of which there will be hundreds.
And, because of my work, I go to a lot of trade shows and conferences and I pick up tons of literature from all manufacturers and leave them on the table in our meeting room. That information also sparks conversation and I know our people like to look at the pictures and hold them in their hands. It is just a bit more tangible than images on a screen. Most apparatus builders also have that same literature on their websites, in formats that can be downloaded and printed if desired. I have also contacted knowledgeable people for advice with some technical questions.
We’ve not, however, felt the need to hire a consultant to help us. Even though we’re a tiny department in northern New Hampshire, we’ve bought a few trucks and have some people on the committee with experience that will help with the process. We’ve watched and learned from neighboring departments that have also bought apparatus recently. Some of the advice is good, and some we need to discount.
We’ve organized our discussions so far to body needs and cab needs. Obviously, they’re integrated and will need to be considered in total when we get to brass tacks and start reducing everything to writing in bid specifications.
Once we get those specifications close to finalized, we want to go to at least one trade show as a committee and the closest one for us is New England Association of Fire Chiefs annual conference and trade show in June in Springfield, Mass. At that time, we hope to have some concrete specification that we can start talking to sales people and dealers.
But we’ll save that discussion for another day.
