Freightliner Ambulances

[Guest]

Was wondering if there are any Freightliner Ambulances in the area. I see mostly Fords in the lower westchester and Fairfield county areas.

Maybe I am just missing them....

[Guest paramedico987]

Occasionally you see them... yuck! Nothing says 'bad idea' like routinely transporting people with illnesses and injuries sensitive to abrupt movement on a truck chasis!

That being said, I also have a deeply entrenched loathing for the ford motor company and the pieces of crap the turn out by the thousand.

Ideally I would like to work in a type I bus built onto a truck chasis [for durability] with some sort of suspension system between the truck and the mod... but that's waaaaaay too much to ask for.

[TRUCK6018 50]

Somers FD had (note had) two. Of the two, one has been replaced with the more conventional E series chassis. The remaining frightliner should be the next up for replacement.

[Guest DADAY]

Harrison EMS had 2 of the Chevy large type ambulances, but have seen that they recently got a small one again. I rode a few times in the "BIG BUS" as I call it. Really hated it not very comfotable at all.

[LED138 10]

Not sure how far your willing to travel, but I know in Bergen County, NJ we have a lot. Fort Lee has 3, Teaneck has a 3, Paramus, Englewood, Ridgewood have 1 each, and Wood-Ridge has 2. I know based on calls Fort Lee and Teaneck do a ton of runs in them. Fort Lee is especially busy and they have many hills in their area, so they have to have good horsepower.

[RWC130 594]

Chester Ambulance (Orange County) has two new INTERNATIONAL'S, Unit 314 and 316.

They are great! "Trauma74" is Chester VAC Captain. I am sure he will add to this.

[sr71 1]

I know that in PG county all the PGFD supplied busses are Freightliner Buses

[trauma74 111]

We did our homework when it came to buying these large Type 1 buses. We heard all of the horror stories from years ago. We heard about the terrible ride with these buses because of the stiff suspension. We heard about VACs buying them just to turn around and sell them within 6 months of getting them.

It was my idea for us to look at International because of all of the problems we dealt with on our Ford buses. The constant suspension problems and going thru brakes and rotors, plus all of the other typical Ford problems.

After we did our homework, we looked at Demos of these Big Buses and we got to drive a few and ride in the back and speak to the VACs about their experiences with them. We spoke with numerous ambulance dealerships and started to get prices. We found that these buses cost between $25K - $40K more then an "E" series Ford. When we decided what we wanted and what company we wanted to build them, we went to our Town Board and asked them to purchase two of these ambulances. I expected to have to give a long drawn out speech for an hour. Within 15 minutes, the Town thought it was great to get a truck chassis instead of a Ford van chassis. They were sold on it and so were we.

The more weight you add to these buses, the better the ride. We have always carried A LOT more supplies compared to what the DOH says the minimum is. Even without the added weight, these buses are working out great. When you are riding in the back, you only thing you get is a little more road noise and some very minimal vibration from the big 19.5 inch truck tires. When you are up front you know you are in a truck, especially with the air seats which can make you bounce all over the place. I like the air assisted brakes, the fact that you sit up a lot higher, you have a better field of vision and believe it or not, they have a better turning radius compared to the Ford.

If anyone is considering getting a Big Bus, please send me a PM and maybe we can set up a time to show the bus to you.

[Guest partyrock]

I've made it pretty clear in other threads that I'm not happy with the growing size of ambulances, but that being said the International buses are good. If you keep the weight down the for chassis are fully capable of handling the job. When you start going with the big boxes these truck chassis really are the only way to go. As Trauma all ready covered the ride is much improved over the last few years, the turning radius is great, and they are extremely durable. FDNY has been looking at a replacement vehicle for the Rescue Medics. The HazTac buses were all ready stuffed to the gills. For the Rescue Medics to carry everything they should have they need a bigger bus. The proposed Ford bus is so large it'll never survive the streets and has a turning radius similar to a small engine. The compressor trucks SOC has I believe are the same dimensions. Sadly the dept apparently doesn't want to consider International.

[Guest EFFP411]

All I can say, is that Fords suck, we just bought 2 new E-450 Lifelines, and they spend more time in the shop than on the road. So far, each has ablut 25,000 miles on it, and both have needed brakes, tie rods, ball joints, other front end parts, and not to mention both of them have died on crews at the hospital, and had to get towed home. A couple times already, they have died ith a patient in the back, luckily each time, Mobile Life was not too far behind, so they would just switch them over to the other rig and go. With almost 60 square miles of area to cover, and almost 1800 ems calls a year, they are no longer able to stand up to the punishment. We used to have a GMC topkick ambulance at one point in the past, and everybody seemed to love it. And if we do consider a new set of ambulances in a few years, I hope they ditch ford and either go with freightliner, International, or Chevy again. Just my two cents

[PVFD233 68]

Chester Ambulance (Orange County) has two new INTERNATIONAL'S, Unit 314 and 316.

They are great! "Trauma74" is Chester VAC Captain. I am sure he will add to this.

Don't they have Fed qs?

[trauma74 111]

These buses both have the Electronic EQ2B. I thought it would good. When you are close you tell it is not the real thing. Most of my members want to either get rid of the Q all together or add an additional siren.

We have been running these rigs to all of our jobs since we out then in service and we are not having any major problems. We have had a few minor things that the dealship fixed quickly and they were back in service as fast as they went out of service.

I know that not every VAC can afford to spend the money on these Big Buses, but the Chevy/GMC 4500 series is becoming very popular in the ambulance market. The Chevy van chassis are becoming ambulances now too. Mobile Life just bought a few of them. You cannot go wrong with a Chevy. You get the Duramax Dielsel and the Allison transmission. You really cannot ask for a better combination unless you get a vehicle with a Caterpillar Diesel, but the you are talking BIG BUCKS!

Edited July 24, 2007 by trauma74

[RWC130 594]

INTERNATIONAL'S ride very nice!

[Danger 160]

All I can say, is that Fords suck, we just bought 2 new E-450 Lifelines, and they spend more time in the shop than on the road. So far, each has ablut 25,000 miles on it, and both have needed brakes, tie rods, ball joints, other front end parts, and not to mention both of them have died on crews at the hospital, and had to get towed home. A couple times already, they have died ith a patient in the back, luckily each time, Mobile Life was not too far behind, so they would just switch them over to the other rig and go. With almost 60 square miles of area to cover, and almost 1800 ems calls a year, they are no longer able to stand up to the punishment. We used to have a GMC topkick ambulance at one point in the past, and everybody seemed to love it. And if we do consider a new set of ambulances in a few years, I hope they ditch ford and either go with freightliner, International, or Chevy again. Just my two cents

I was wondering why 39-72 is ALWAYS OOS. We just got 3 identical E-450s (PL Custom) not too long after you got yours and they haven't spent a minute out of service mechanical.

[xfirefighter484x 234]

I was wondering why 39-72 is ALWAYS OOS. We just got 3 identical E-450s (PL Custom) not too long after you got yours and they haven't spent a minute out of service mechanical.

I think in part is the additional mileage that EFFD has to travel to get to/from the hospital adds quite some wear and tear to them.

I believe that in the last year, there are over 20,000 miles on each ambulance.

Also, the ambulances have no SET designation. Being as they are identical, when one goes out for mechanical issues, whether it be "-71" or "-72", the remaining automatically becomes 39-71, since "39-71" is the full-time rostered ambulance for EF.

The only way that EFFD ambulances have "set designations" is through the Radio Identifiers. Always funny to hear the dispatchers (sorry to make fun, but it is funny) get all confused when 39-72 calls out responding, and they see 39-71 pop up on the CAD system. Hearing some of them pause and stumble as they try and figure it out can be priceless.

Also adding to the confusion is that the 2 ambulances are switched every week-few weeks to keep the mileage even.

BTW, I have FULL respect for the dispatchers, but if you can't laugh at things like that, then you must be sad and depressed.