Preventive maintenance critical to keeping aerial apparatus in top condition
Pieces of aerial fire apparatus are major investments. We understand that. The last thing anyone wants is to have equipment unavailable when lives and communities are at risk.
That’s why Golden State Fire Apparatus, in tandem with our partners at Pierce Manufacturing, strongly urges our customers to follow a regular preventive maintenance schedule for their aerial devices.
You rely on your equipment to be ready when the call comes. No one is in better position than you to make sure it can respond.
We will provide you an Equipment Inspection and Maintenance Worksheet so you can easily document your own inspections and routine maintenance, in addition to any work our trained specialists perform for you. We recommend that our customers retain copies of the completed worksheets as a permanent record of the maintenance actions performed.
Inspections should be performed after the first 25 hours of service or no less than quarterly, whichever comes first. Additional maintenance inspections are required after 50 hours of service and again at 400 hours, or annually, whichever comes first in either case.
The preventive maintenance checklist includes items such as:
- Hydraulic fluid levels and filters
- Oil levels and filters
- Rotation bearing seals
- Stabilizer jack, elevation and extension cylinders
- Aerial cradle
- Electro-hydraulic swivel
- Rotation gear box
- Wire rope and electric cables
- Various pads
- Pivot and cylinder pins, and rotation bearing bolts
- Water monitors
- Stabilizer beams
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
- All the preventive maintenance recommendations and the steps necessary to accomplish them are explained in your Pierce owner’s manual. Certified Golden State Emergency Vehicle Service technicians are available via phone or email to answer any questions you may have.
- The schedule is intended as a minimum and is greatly dependent on operating conditions. Heavy use and extreme environmental conditions such as heat, cold, sand, or salt spray will require increased inspection and maintenance.
- Customers also should know that preventive maintenance is not intended to replace or negate any routine pre-operation safety inspections. The aerial operator must be aware of the condition of the aerial equipment before operating. A pre-operational visual safety inspection should always be performed, including checking stabilizers, aerial pivot pins and retaining hardware, cables, sheaves, basket pivot pins, etc.
- Many of the simple checks can be quickly accomplished in between calls. For instance, checking fluid levels only takes a few minutes. And using Automatic Transmission Fluid to clean and wipe the water ways of the ladder when extended horizontally is easy to do; we recommend it after every 10 hours of use.
- Of course, there are some maintenance and diagnostic functions that GSEVS is best equipped to handle at our state-of-the-art facility in Sacramento. Larger, more complex trucks that include rear mounts and tillers are often best left to our experts.
- Regardless of size, we recommend that apparatus be serviced by us no less than once a year. An annual inspection typically takes no more than a week and often can be accomplished in two or three days.
Our staff will service your emergency vehicle efficiently and reliably. We invest in our people and equipment so that you will have accurate results and confidence in a job done right.
Details matter each and every time. Our technicians partner with you to reduce your total cost of ownership and get your vehicle back into service as soon as possible.
We operate out of a 35,000-square-foot facility that contains 18 functional working bays. We continually invest in tools and equipment so that your emergency vehicle receives the utmost care, while reducing the man-hours required to get the job done right.