In the FDNY, is there any practical difference between rigs with a “truck” designation and rigs designated as “ladder?”
A ladder has some kind of aerial apparatus on it, be it a boom bucket or automated ladder. A truck provides the pump, hose, and hand equipment.
ETA: In my experience, aerial trucks don’t have pumps because they need the space for the hydraulics to run the ladder. But then I ran 70s and 80s vintage fire equipment, too.
Theres no designation called “truck” in the FDNY thats just a sort of nickname for the fire vehicle, as in Ladder 10/Engine 10 of the former world trade center, both known as “10 Truck.”
There are ladder companies and engine Companies and some “squads” that can do either (for decades squad 1 of Park Slope, Brooklyn was the only Squad in the city) as well as less commonly seen specialty units like the Collapse rig, FAST firefighter rescue rig, chemical ladder, and others. Engines usually extinguish the fire while ladders deal with the structure and rescue, but, obviously it’s a little more complicated than that in practice.
An engine company is called a truck company in some other cities; not in NYC.
Not a firefighter myself, but I come from an FDNY family (well, half – we’re almost a stereotype of Irish-Americans, with the paternal side of the family having lots of firemen, and the maternal side lots of cops).
As Hello Again says, there really isn’t a “truck” designation. There are engine companies, and there are ladder companies, as well as some highly specialized companies. Each company has a particular kind of equipment (including the truck), and plays a particular role at a fire. Companies are organized into battalions, which will include engine companies and ladder companies.
The terms “ladder” and “truck” are unsed interchangeably; they’re the same thing. The vehicle that carries water is called an engine. Outside NYC the term pumper is used also.
Frank Raffa
Supv. Dispatcher, FDNY
Borough of Brooklyn
www.FDNewYork.com
Did we seriously just get somebody from FDNY to answer the question? The SDMB is so great that way.
And he actually broke cover.
Outside fdny generally speaking
truck = big boy with the big ladders as well as a giant rolling toolbox.
Engine = vehicle carrying some kind of pump and water supply as well as basic cross section of firefighting tools.
To make matters more confusing you have quads and quints where you may see combinations of aerial devices, ladders, pumps, and water supply