USAR Vehicle Selection Requires Much Planning
by Mark Saxelby

A significant asset of your new Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) cache will be the equipment used to transport the equipment. Making the decision and finding the right vehicle to move your stuff can be expensive as well as challenging to meet the needs of your agency, city or region.

Before looking at some of the numerous options available, it’s important to consider the following topics; the budget; the amount of storage space needed; whether the equipment will be stored in boxes or mounted; how the apparatus will respond, particularly whether it will respond as a stand-alone vehicle and whether crew members work directly from it; how many vehicles are needed; who will be responsible for maintenance and who will pay for it; where will it be stored and are there weight length and height limitations; what are the security issues; does the vehicle have other duties to perform; and finally what is the importance of compatibility (tires, filters, wheels) with the rest of the fleet.

Answers to these questions should be in hand before making any commitment to purchase any transportation apparatus.

Transportation can take on numerous forms, and all have advantages and disadvantages. Transportation vehicle configurations can include, but are not limited to the following: dry box trucks; specialized single, tandem and tractor-drawn trailer apparatus; tractor-drawn flatbed and dry box trailers; goose neck or conventional box trailers; soft-side enclosed trailers; modified fire apparatus or modified commercial vehicles; and roll-on, roll-off or hook-lift apparatus.

Box Trucks
While vehicle options vary, they fall into basic groups, tractor-drawn combinations and single vehicle configurations.

Box trucks have separate cargo areas that sit on the frame. The cargo area generally cannot be accessed from the cab. Most box trucks have a roll-up rear door that’s similar to a garage door and a lift gate for cargo. Companies that need to haul large items such as furniture, appliances and large boxes generally use box trucks.

Box trucks are very common. Ryder and U-Haul use them, and they usually range from 18 to 24 feet long. Box trucks can be found in conventional or cab-over designs. This configuration combines motive power and storage area into a common vehicle. Depending on design, most can be driven without special, qualified drivers and, because they are generally “off-the-shelf” designs, the cost is contained.

It’s important to remember to never purchase any type of boxed vehicle for a USAR equipment cache without a heavy-duty hydraulic lift gate as it will get used extensively. Box vehicle configurations are very suitable for the installation of racks to accommodate boxes or mounted tools, as well as carrying packaged and palletized or bulky equipment.

Some of the positive aspects of this selection are the contained cost, security of cargo, versatility of configuration and having control of commercial drivers license (CDL) requirements.

A significant negative aspect of a box truck configuration is the limitation of versatility. Equipment can only go where the vehicle goes unless it’s first unloaded. Additionally, even with a side door, access to equipment is somewhat limited. Despite careful planning, Murphy’s Law dictates that the one piece of equipment needed will be as far from the access door as possible.

When looking at box vehicles options, consider the following:

• Adding a side door to provide access for forward equipment. This also allows the vehicle to be used as an improvised office, sleeping area or storage area and will eliminate the necessity to open the large door every time you need access. Some models offer fold down/out stairs for access.

Curtain wall trailers make loading and unloading of equipment and supplies easy. All equipment is readily accessible no matter where it’s loaded on the vehicle. Curtain wall trailers were used extensively at various locations during Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

Many departments find converting older apparatus into USAR vehicles economical. Los Angles City Fire Department’s first USAR apparatus was a converted 1972 American LaFrance triple pumper. The hose body and pump was replaced with an all-purpose service body.   (Fire Apparatus Photo)

• Adding a mounted refrigerator unit. This allows you to control the heat environment to protect delicate equipment as well as enhance the versatility of using the vehicle as an office, planning vehicle or sleeping area.

• Adding the “crew cab” configuration. With the addition of a rear seat and two doors the cab can easily carry five, if not six people. This allows a rescue squad to move its respective personnel and equipment in one vehicle.

• Adding frame-mounted toolboxes or storage units below the box.

Not only does this give you a location to safely carry the jack and lug wrench for the spare tire (often overlooked, but a good idea), it also provides a convenient location for tire chains, hand tool kits, a chain saw to clear fallen trees blocking roadways or any other items that may be needed without having to open up the back.
Then, there’s always the need for lockable doors and an extended, or secondary fuel tank.

Specialized Apparatus
Moving on to other types of vehicles, specialized task specific apparatus is a great selection for field assigned USAR or heavy-rescue companies. When equipped with racks, drawers and trays, a multitude of available tool layouts allow quick access for emergency operations, maintenance and inventory.

Specialized apparatus is the most common configuration for staffed or operational heavy-rescue or USAR companies. Specialized apparatus can be single axle, tandem axle or tractor drawn. A nice feature of the tractor-drawn apparatus is the ability to drop the trailer (bob-tail the tractor), leave the trailer at a set location as a “tool crib” and use the tractor to move around the rescue site without dealing with the trailer. Many agencies using this type of apparatus enhance the tractor compartmentalization and trailer landing gear to support this type of use.

A down side to the tractor-drawn apparatus is the CDL licensing requirements. A tractor-drawn apparatus requires a Class A licensed driver, and this may be a limiting factor for some agencies.

Specialized apparatus are expensive, and it’s often difficult to justify the expense for entry-level USAR programs. Additionally, if your plan is to containerize your tools and equipment for transportation to the operational area, this is not the prime choice. The program would be better served using a box truck or dry box, tractor-trailer configuration.

If specialized apparatus is the final decision, make the decision as educated as possible. Prior to meeting with apparatus manufactures or designers, develop a full and complete inventory of exactly what equipment will be carried on the apparatus. The list should include amount, weight, length, width and height of the items carried.

After compiling the equipment list, break it into compartment lists based on tasks. For example, rope software stored with rope hardware, breaching and breaking tools stored together and so on.

As the compartment lists are developed, how the equipment will be stored and mounted on the apparatus can be determined. Having the weight and dimensions of the equipment allows departments to draw out a compartment configuration to determine the exact compartment and door size.

One important issue to keep in mind is planning at least 20 percent more storage space than needed. This allows for fine tuning, and makes room for new technologies as they become available.

Tractor-drawn, dry-box trailers offer tremendous flexibility. If you can deal with the licensing requirements, dry-box trailers can be configured with racks, drawers and trays. Areas within the box can be partitioned off for office space, or the trailer can be dropped and the entire space used for offices, sleeping space or whatever is needed.

In addition to the licensing issues, there are other downsides to tractor-drawn trailers. Limited access can be an issue. If this is the chosen route, make sure to order trailers with at least one side door, a full roll-up door in the rear and a lift gate.

The upside to tractor-drawn apparatus is flexibility. Dry-box trailers offer almost unlimited internal configurations, plenty of space to work with and the ability to drop the trailer and use the tractor for other tasks.

Because these units are basically commercial off the shelf, overall costs are somewhat contained, and the budget proposal for purchase can be extremely accurate.

Flatbed trailers may not be the best selection, although they do offer a significant amount flat cargo space. The cargo must be secured and, even with equipment placed in shipping containers, it can be difficult to secure. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) USAR Task Forces used this concept for quite a long time and still do in some cases.

The problem of securing the cargo is overcome by placing the equipment in shipping containers such as Ropak boxes (www.ropackrpp.com) and then stacking and strapping them down or by containerizing the equipment in Hardigg cases (www.hardigg.com) or Anvil Cases (www.anvilcase.com) and then stacking and netting them onto military 463L airlift pallets.
Another issue to consider with a flatbed trailer configuration is it may take a considerable size forklift to load and unload the equipment. Hand loading is possible, but hard work.

Conventional trailers offer good returns for entry-level agencies working on a limited budget. Most likely, there’s already a tow vehicle in the fleet. They offer a large amount of space with a limited investment and there’s no need to deal with the licensing issues.

Conventional trailers with drop-down rear doors make moving tools and equipment in and out easy, and they can accommodate hand trucks and carts for moving equipment.

As with the tractor-drawn trailer vehicles, conventional, commercially available trailers can be disconnected, and the tow vehicle can be used for other duties as needed.

Gooseneck trailers offer the same features of conventional ball-hitch trailers except the tongue load of the trailer is carried directly above or forward of the rear axle moving more weight onto the steering axle making the vehicle more stable. Conventional trailers can be converted to a gooseneck configuration. The down side of gooseneck trailers, however, is the loss of the storage area in the cargo box of the tow vehicle.

Still another option is a soft side, or curtain wall, enclosed trailer or truck. To get an idea of what a soft side vehicle is, picture a box truck or trailer, complete with a front bulkhead, roof and rear doors, but without sidewalls. Additional roof support posts are spaced on the sides. Heavy-duty, vinyl-coated fabric (usually polyester) curtains slide along tracks in the roof to enclose the trailer. This allows unrestricted access on both sides for the full length of the box or trailer.

Curtain side trailers evolved in Europe, where narrow streets prevent older factories and stores in ancient urban locations from having loading docks. It’s amazing to see a truck parked in the middle of a side street, with forklifts attacking it from both sides. That kind of flexibility can speed loading and unloading and practically eliminates the problem of inaccessibility to any part of the cargo.

Utility Trailer’s Tautliner is typical of soft-sided trailers. Western Trailers manufactures a curtain side trailer based on the company’s Elite flatbed. Fontaine Trailer also makes curtain side trailers with its platform trailers. Differences between manufacturers of curtain side trailers are in the hardware used and attachment techniques, but the principal designs are similar.

Converting A Flatbed
There is always the option of converting a department-owned flatbed. Maybe the budget just isn’t big enough for a new convertible trailer right now, but don’t discount the idea of building in some versatility by converting the existing trailer or doing so when funds become available.

Several manufacturers offer conversions for flatbed trailers to make them soft side trailers. An issue to bear in mind regarding soft side trailers is that the cargo still needs to be secured or tied down.

Some departments are so strapped for cash, they modify older fire fleet apparatus or donated commercial vehicles. It’s actually a common practice. Initial cost is negligible and conversion or updating costs are somewhat limited. However, keep in mind that when an older rig is inherited, it is done so with its inherent problems. This option is still viable, particularly if the department has the mechanical support to go through the apparatus completely and bring it up to emergency response dependability.

Large corporate sponsors are often willing to donate old fleet rigs to fledgling USAR companies for local community use. For example, retired beverage delivery rigs make fantastic USAR rigs in the right hands. All that’s needed is some patience and a little ingenuity.

Modular Containers
Another extremely versatile option is the roll-off or hook-lift design, which is becoming quite popular. These types of vehicles use a modular shipping container type box that can be outfitted with equipment then removed or placed onto the carrying apparatus in less than a minute.

The advantage to this type of vehicle is departments can order a multitude of different bodies to place onto the vehicle and swap them. Stake bodies, fuel tender tanks, storage containers and flat beds are swapped on and off as needs arise.

With the swappable body, departments can purchase storage boxes for specific uses and load and respond with what is needed. Trench response units, structural collapse or decontamination modules can be developed and stored securely on the ground until needed. The fact that the unit is on the ground makes removing tools and equipment much easier and safer whether for response or maintenance.

If department needs dictate a truly universal vehicle, definitely look into this type of vehicle. See www.swaploader.com for information.

Whatever vehicle is decided upon, conventional trailer, tractor-drawn, curtain side, dry box or flatbed, or a heavy-rescue design, and whether it is new or rebuilt, the most important thing is to make the decision based on specific needs.

Do not rush into any vehicle choice until the needs are determined – what is expected of the vehicles and what it is going to carry.
With proper pre-planning, the excursion into developing a USAR response vehicle can be a very rewarding experience. Lack of planning will haunt the department for a long time.

If there is one lesson to learn from this discussion, it is the need to plan, plan and plan. Try to look at every angle and consider all the “what ifs.”

When all that’s done, sit down and draw up the vehicle’s specifications.

Editor’s Note: Mark Saxelby is a battalion chief with the Los Angeles City Fire Department. He has been a logistics manager for his department’s FEMA USAR Team since its inception in 1990. As a captain, he opened the department’s first full-time staffed USAR company and held that position until promotion. He teaches disaster logistics throughout the country and has conducted numerous command, logistics and rescue training classes.