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I have had the opportunity to drive some very cool vehicles throughout my career and I had three left on my list that I wanted to try out. Thanks to a friend that works for the Highway Department, I got to take a line painting truck for a spin (just look for the crooked white line on the shoulder of a highway in Southwest Colorado). Another, and most endeared to me, was the tiller position on a ladder truck.
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Thanks to Farmington Firefighter Dave Doudy, I was presented the opportunity of a lifetime. Dave owns this Seagrave Tractor Drawn Ladder Truck. He had brought it over to Station #1 and asked if I wanted to drive the back end! After a crash (no pun intended) course on tiller operations, we were off.
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Tiller ladder trucks have metal ladders that can expand, like a telescope, to reach up in the air about 100 feet (ten stories high). The tiller ladder truck has two steering wheels and two drivers - one in the front and one in the back. The one in the back controls the rear wheels of the truck, and allows this very long truck to go around corners easily.
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The driver and tillerman of a tractor-trailer ladder truck have a dual responsibility that is unique among firefighting apparatus drivers. The driver is responsible for the proper maneuvering of the tractor, and the tillerman controls the lateral movement of the trailer. However, both must work together as a team and coordinate their actions to provide a safe and efficient operation of the tractor and trailer as a unit.
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Thankfully, traffic was light that day. After feeling like Kramer on the episode of Seinfeld when he drove the back end of a FDNY Ladder Truck, we returned to quarters in one piece. Anybody know somebody who has access to a Zamboni?
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