[Music] High-tech safety engineering. When firefighters get to the location, this has got to work. Cutting-edge diecast construction and precision fabrication on a mammoth scale. It's good to know that we can get that kind of quality into our parts, all to build a blaze-busting

vehicle. That's a matter of life and death. Lives depend on what we do and make sure we do it right. To create a super fire truck, you need a super factory. Pierce [Applause] - manufacturer battling a raging blaze. Failure is not an option for

firefighters. Only one thing stands between them and deadly chaos: their fire truck. From mega frames to high-pressure hoses, high-tech front cabs to superior safety rates, souped-up engines to ladders that reach the sky, a fire truck's more than a vehicle, it's a

mobile rescue unit ready for any crisis. For generations, Pierce Manufacturing set the gold standard, building custom, cutting-edge fire trucks that battle blazes and save [Music] lives. Today, no company in the world crafts more firefighting apparatus than Pierce. 1,800 vehicles a

year, and now they've created the ultimate fire truck: the Pierce 3M heavy-duty ladder model. This firefighting powerhouse is a jack of all trades. It can reach 30 m and shoot a water jet at a blaze-busting 7,500 l a minute. Top it off with

precision point handling, motion-sensitive safety innovations, and life-saving ladder equipment, and it's taking the fire truck to high-tech heights. Pierce manufactures this heavy-duty fire truck at their super factory in Appleton, Wisconsin. This mammoth facility boasts nearly

75,000 square meters of manufacturing. It takes 45 days, more than 1,500 workers, and some serious muscle to build these rigs with over 2,000 different custom packages. There's no such thing as a standard truck if you look at our

industry. There's 33,000 fire departments now. Every one of them fights fires differently. We've got to be flexible with our designs to build one-of-a-kind trucks. Pierce Factory Engineers faced a challenge setting up a manufacturing process with custom capabilities. Their solution:

dividing assembly into multiple steps with production flexibility. Frame up, where the chassis foundation takes shape. Fabrication, where welders craft the truck's aluminum cab and body. Paint, where steel gets its shine. Assembly, where workers install thousands of components. And aerial assembly, where the massive ladder

attaches to the finished truck. Here's how a Pierce 30-meter aerial fire truck is designed. The open cab interior holds the driver seating and critical safety equipment, enough to outfit a team of 10 firefighters. A 3,000-liter center-mounted

water tank connects to a high-power pump. A reinforced center support structure called the torque box holds the mechanics for the mammoth aerial up top. This 7,000-kilogram ladder, stabilized by a rotating platform and four hydraulic arms, gives the truck its 30-meter reach and

powering it all is a heavy-duty diesel engine connected directly to the main mechanical systems. But to get a fire truck off the ground, it all starts here. Here, frame up, where the massive chassis foundation takes shape. When it's done, this 10x1-meter

The frame will shoulder the weight of the entire truck and its heavy payload, including onboard equipment, firefighters, and leaders of water, all adding up to a staggering 32 tons. It's a big aerial unit, there are big ladder units, and things like that.

Big tankers will haul a lot of water; they have to be heavy duty. The foundation frame starts with two steel rails. These two black beams must quickly become the rock-solid base of a state-of-the-art fire truck. Here in frame up, we like to say the truck starts

here. Frame assembly comes down to two things: keeping it straight and level. Everything about a fire truck's foundation has to be square. Workers use an overhead hoist to slot the frame rails into a massive jig, with the help of air-powered stabilizers. The jig

seats the rails 86 cm apart. With so much riding on these rails, the exact parallel angle is critical. Now, to keep the rails in a strong load-bearing square, the team installs cross members. Over a lifetime of operation, heavy cargo and twisting pressure put tremendous stress on the

alignment. They are very heavy-duty frame rails. They are uh probably 13 in tall, where in your normal passenger truck uh rails are maybe 4 in tall. But the frame is only as strong as its weakest link. The bolts that hold the rails together are as important as

the rails themselves. To ensure workers tighten bolts to exact specifications, the crew uses a carefully calibrated instrument called a stall tool, a wrench with built-in control. Some of our specialty tooling are stall tools that automatically stop when they reach correct torque. Stall tools allow us to tighten and torque in

one step without having to retorque with a regular torque wrench later workers fly the fully assembled frame to a waiting suspension assembly the suspension system includes the base structure for the engine transmission wheels and brakes this groundbreaking independent front suspension system is called the TAC

4 for when a fire truck's on its way to a raging blaze Saving Time can save lives compared to most truck standard straight axle suspension this heavy-duty system handles more like a sports car allowing the truck to make tighter turns and faster stops this is the one thing that we have

done uh in the past 20 years that I think is going to save more lives than any other safety feature that we have the TAC 4 or independent front suspension has a military pedigree Pierce's parent company Oshkosh truck

first designed and built the suspension for the US armed forces the troops put the suspension through over 100,000 actual test kilometers in extreme off-road conditions thousands of military trucks are delivered daily with independent front suspension and that's what we've captured and put into

a fire truck to build each component of the TAC Force suspension the Pierce team starts with a Precision engineered laser cutter raw steel is the heart and soul of every fire truck first the system carefully chooses the proper bin depending on what it's cutting this Tower holds 10 bins of

steel in total each shelf has a maximum capacity of over a ton we run through about 60,000 ft of material a week suction cups grab the raw sheet metal and load it onto the laser cutting table the laser cuts through plates with speed and power up to 4,000 watts of

energy the laser burns out supports and connecting pieces that bring the suspension together working through the raw steel with tolerances down to the micro mm we're not building Swiss watches here but it's good to know that we can get that kind of quality into our parts

the laser cutter also minimizes sheet metal waste using a computer program called optimization nesting software the software processes up to 3 days of cutting orders at once the result less scrap whichever way whichever way they would fit into the sheets the best is the way the software is going to divide

them up to free them from the nest the arm lifts and drags the cut parts over a metal race and it'll be all different parts different part numbers but basically this is all for the TAC 4 independent front suspension as the fire truck suspension

build continues the TAC 4 assembly is divided into four critical parts the wheel hubs and rotors brakes and a wishbone shaped connector called the control L that attaches the whole assembly to the truck the Pierce firetrucks control arms are souped up versions of what's found

on many SUVs control arm subassemblies are similar to what your A-frames are in most of your cars and pickups nowadays the difference is this control arm makes an SUVs look downright anemic the TAC 4 control arm is built to carry massive

loads allowing fire trucks to haul more fighters and equipment to the scene with the control arms in place it's time for the hub and rotor assembly key parts of the suspension I wheel and brake system hubs and rotors install as a unit rotors are vented discs inside the wheel

frame used for braking hubs connect the whole wheel construction to the truck to install Hub and rotors together first pressurized Rams rivet 10 studs into the hub these sturdy bolts will eventually support the fire truck's big wheels as the build continues it's time for the

brakes when firefighters speed to an emergency Running Red Lights it takes powerful brakes to stop 32 tons of fire truck to meet the challenge Pierce super sizes the 30 m ladder trucks brake system a hoist lowers a massive clamp or caliper onto the wheels brake rotor the

caliper is the mechanism that actually squeezes the brake rotor making the truck stop these Monster brakes can stop a truck going 95 km an hour 20 m sooner than standard brakes can that's four car lengths a life-saving difference like

the rest of the wheel assembly this caliper is huge it's about 10 times bigger than what's on your car and the truck's special anti-lock brakes have another built-in safety precaution it's called electronic stability control or ESC on snow and ice a fast-breaking truck

can spin out of control but with ESC the system senses dangerous road conditions and adjusts the braking pressure tire by tire ESC rest stabilizes the truck's direction and speed helping the driver regain control now it's time for the chassis to get some Cutting Edge

tires this 18 in diameter for a regular vehicle this one's a 225 these wheels have a built-in bonus a special tire protection band located between the metal wheel frame and the rubber in the event of a dangerous blowout the band keeps the tire rubber

attached to the wheel frame on a racing fire truck, it's vital you don't want the tire coming off the wheel; that's catastrophic. Now after 3 days and four major build stations, the chassis suspension build is starting to come together. It may not look like a truck yet, but in a fire

emergency, each critical detail translates directly to safety, speed, and stability on the road. The cab and all its components are the brains behind the fire truck's brawn. By the end of the build, this 4-meter long by 3-meter wide metal box houses the key

elements of the fire truck here. The driver and team strap in for the white-knuckle ride. The cab's cockpit-style dashboard gives the driver precision control. Customized gauges, switches, and levers direct and monitor many of the truck's mechanical systems, from steering to

radio communication, sirens to lights, and high-powered pumps to onboard water supply. But first, the cab needs a strong foundation. Pierce believes to build a cab right, you've got to break it down into subassembly steps, each run by highly trained specialists with

quality control every step of the way. The cab build starts in the fabrication department. First, welders fabricate the back of the cab, welding the aluminum skin to the rectangular bars of the substructure. Pierce custom designs this metal matrix according to the different cab layouts, adjusting for overall

dimensions, storage, and seating configurations. Windows and door design, you get different mount variations, and tubes go in different places. So you kind of have to pay attention that you know where everything needs to go. Now to weld a flawless joint, fabricators use a secret weapon: gravity.

Tilting this welding table ensures everybody's working at the perfect angle. It's a better way to weld it when it's flat to put these tubes in place, the rear walls, the base for the rest of the cab. This assembly process is also critical, done right. It anchors all

of the cab components to come. This is the rear wall. When this is ready to go on the cab, the substructure is built and they'll have the sides on, so you'll have your sides here and over here. The cab fabrication team now faces a

challenge attaching the wall frame to the outer surface without warping. Welding the outer skin directly onto the main structure creates a twisting tension called torsion. The torsion warps the outer finish. Even a slight twist can distort the truck's body, especially along the

main side structures that give the FireTR its solid shape. After experimenting with fixes, builders came up with a radical but simple solution: double-sided industrial strength tape. They apply the tape to the foundation supports, then attach the supports to the skin. Basically, all it does is stick the skin

to the framework because there is welding all on the interior of the frame. It sticks right on, and then once you clamp it, forget it. The welder now goes to work on the skeleton. He joins the cab's frame substructure using traditional welding

techniques. Surprisingly, one part of the cab assembles with nothing more than industrial strength glue: the truck's doors. It's an innovation that cuts hours off the total build time. Uh, the unique thing about uh bonding doors together uh there's no welding whatsoever. The door is

totally bonded together the Builder applies a liberal bead of epoxy to the door components he puts the parts into a fixture and tightens the mounts by hand it's a type of epoxy we use it's very strong workers have just 10 minutes till

the adhesive sets for an airtight seal they've got to go beyond hand tightening as a series of hydraulic clamps lock the part into place the glue's drying fast but it all comes together a solid airtight seal once finished it's tough like a well-joined

in a fraction of the time our old doors were are new doors again we saved a lot of hours doing it that way after over 30 hours of total build time at several different cab stations the cab support structure all comes together at the final weld assembly a rooftop arrives on an

overhead crane a front end and structural supports Fabricators on either side of the center aisle assemble cabs like three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles every move matters workers know this build and every finished fire truck has a lot riding on it they want to ensure that uh when

that apparatus needs to go rescue someone or save someone it's going to perform at its highest level but Pierce and the fire industry had far humbler beginnings bucket brigades handheld ladders and steam powered pumps first became the modern fire truck in the early

19th century when newly invented skyscrapers caught on fire they needed high-tech trucks to put them out founded in 1913 by brothers Humphrey and Dudley Pierce Pierce manufacturing began by reconfiguring pre-made truck and bus bodies for construction and

delivery then in 1940 Pierce started outfitting them with fire fighting equipment early fire truck orders were for small town fire department's custom trucks built one at a time but Pierce's first big order came in 1956 41 fire fighting trailers for the

City of Minneapolis and that was just the beginning of a firefighting revolution today Pierce builds a wide range of firefighting apparatus their pumper trucks carry high powered water pumps that turn fire hydrant flows into high pressure jets their expandable rescue

trucks become on-site command centers with computers and satellite hookups and their aerial trucks carry firefighting teams massive ladders demolition ventilation and breathing [Music] equipment and as the build on this custom aerial model A Pierce heavy duty 30m ladder truck heads into the next

assembly stage this empty frame's about to transform into a full-on fire truck we pay attention to detail for our firemen they take great pride in their product we take great pride in putting the product together from raw steel to gleaming top coat the painting process happens in

five major steps Metal finishing pre-treatment primer paint and buffing first Metal finishing smooths out any imperfections caused by earlier welding steps if workers find any warp or distortion they flatten it they make sure each cab and chassis turns into a

smooth blank canvas the metal finishing will take out the defects fix any weld marks but it's dirty work so dirty the metal finishing area is known as the mud room here workers use a glue like putty to even out the surface filling in tiny crevices

A technician adds a special blue-colored chemical catalyst to the cream-colored epoxy. The blue catalyst starts a chemical reaction, hardening the putty. The finisher layers the paste onto the metal surface, spreading it out flat for the final touch. Technicians take a rotating sander to the dry epoxy body.

Filler will give the ultimate finish once you get the paint on it. Now it's time for pre-treatment. This crucial process removes any dirt or outside contamination. It's really the most critical process; the paint will not stick if that process is not done correctly.

The paint technician gives the naked shell a thorough wash. He uses a different chemical solution depending on what kind of materials are in the booth: aluminum, galvanized steel, or stainless steel. This job is strictly hands-off. We focus hard and try to get everybody not to touch them, even with their skin, because of the oils in your skin.

This truck's ready for a custom paint job. Working in teams of two, technicians use compressed air-powered paint guns to spray on the high-gloss paint. There are no robots here. Pierce prides themselves on a one-of-a-kind truck with unlimited color schemes. This build step counts on the human eye and touch to get precise results. We can match anything; all they have to do is bring us in a sample, and we can color match whatever they want when it comes to choosing the color.

of a fire truck. Pierce's 100-plus color samples keep any engine company covered. The sample rooms are designed to inspire, and modern choices move beyond old classic red. Seminole County, Florida, did a couple trucks that were this bright orange. The forestry service has used this kind of

PE green Hawaii likes to use this 104 yellow, we've done some for the FBI and they've had some different shades of blue with some silver, but no matter what the color, the final product has to be able to stand up to the worst extremes of any

firefighting situation. [Music] To ensure a durable finish, an 80° oven cures the paint for a full 2 hours. Next, the painted cabin chassis heads here where technicians buff and shine the surface. A trained finish painter scours the surface under bright lights looking

for any blemishes. Some are small little specks of dust, some stuff after it painted settled on it when it was in the oven. Even the tiniest imperfection gets a fast fix. The team sand, buff, and shine away all glitches. They won't stop until it's

truly a flawless finish. It's now time for the main assembly line here. The fire truck starts to come together with some of the most critical component installations. Teams assemble all the finished parts from frame-up fabrication and paint, but the next build step gives this

fire truck major muscle. The engine. Diesel engines are the driving force behind every fire truck, sending power to built-in hydraulic generators that run the aerial devices, lights, and other critical parts. Pierce equips all its trucks with basic diesel engines, but it's up to the fire department to decide

what kind of engine power plant they want, and, and most importantly, how much raw horsepower. We use several different engines in our fire apparatus. It can be either a Cummins, Caterpillar, or Detroit diesel engine. A forklift wheels engines into a small staging area. This is a 515

horsepower Detroit Series 60 diesel engine this engine is known for its turbocharged pickup fuel efficiency and the ability to handle extreme conditions running smoothly at temperatures over 50° or as low as 40° below zero an overhead crane lowers the assembled engine into place in the frame

with so much wiring already installed assemblers must execute the engine drop to the exact centimeter there's thousands of dollars worth of harnesses and components that are already installed in that frame it's a very tight fit and you don't want to wreck

anything this Blaze-busting fire truck now gets a set of custom pipes teams install the muffler and exhaust system with so many unique options and configurations there's no such thing as a standard setup all exhaust systems that we do are all custom we cut them to make them fit

to make them work on the trucks before the cabs are dropped on the frame it's first wired and outfitted with lights sirens and trim this overhead hoist adjusts to carry all of the various custom cab configurations we've got different models of cabs and different

configurations of those roof heights lengths things like that as it swings into place teams of two position the cab onto the completed [Music] chassis but above all else one thing sets this truck apart from the pack safety equipment the second leading cause of

firefighter deaths is traffic accidents for Pierce Engineers it all comes down to fighting back against the worst accident of all a side roll the momentum of a skidding side roll causes the wide load of a firetruck to overturn crashing onto its side 60%

of all traffic deaths involve a side roll. Pierce fought back against side roll and other accidents with a motion activated high-tech safety defense system. Each of its automated seat belts, retracting seats and airbags respond to dangerous tilting or skidding in nanoseconds.

When a firefighter is going to a scene, the adrenaline is flowing. There's a lot of things going through the mind, what they're going to do when they get there. The last thing they need to be worried about is the occupant safety of

that vehicle. In the truck assembly process, safety starts with the seat system. A technician installs the unique PS6 model seat and seat belt unit. Unsecured occupants can suffer neck-breaking impacts, but this smart system reacts in an emergency. First, the belt tightens around the occupant. Next, the

seat drops to its lowest position, giving the firefighter maximum headroom. The PS6 seats in the rear of the cab also contain the firefighter's lifeline, his breathing equipment. Seated firefighters can easily strap on a stowed air tank while still in the truck.

The motion activated brackets lock the tank safely in place, but when a firefighter needs to go, they can easily slide the breathing rig out. A cab assembler installs the side curtain. Without these inflatable airbags, metal walls become deadly points of impact in the event of a side roll. The

inflatable tube structure deploys in moments. Its triggers inflate the bag for 10 seconds, cushioning the occupant throughout the entire accident. Lastly, the cab assemblers tighten the cab to the chassis and make all the electrical connections. [Music]

connections now a hoist operator places the high-powered water pump directly behind the cab the pump will get fully hooked up and outfitted later on once the truck body and water tank are completely [Music] installed next it's time for the Rock

Solid spine of the entire fire truck the torque box fully equipped this black box protects all the electrical wiring and hydraulics for the aerial ladder and on the road the torque box works like a lightning rod bearing shock and ladder tension taking the pressure load off the

chassis body it's so strong you can hang the entire truck from it ours has a very large box that runs it's about this size and it runs the full length of the truck up to the water pump in there we we not only store our

ground hoses but this is the strength that allows me to do what I'm doing now basically my truck is just hanging from this torque box metal workers make the torque box out of two pieces of 2 and 1/2 inch steel fabricators bend the metal to create

three walls and use one sheet of metal to cap the box this technique minimizes welds making the structure extremely strong the crew installs the 3 ton tube using an overhead crane though the ladder itself adds on later the whole foundation of a ladder truck like the

Pierce 30m heavy-duty model in the making relies on this big box you mean the potatoes of your truck you can't run your ladder without your torque box and for fire departments across the country a ladder truck like this one is

often the most critical vehicle in their fleet as they extend up out of the torque box aerial ladders have to stand up to frame-busting stress lifting up 30 m carrying a 450 kg payload including firefighters, excavation tools, and rescue and

breathing equipment in the chaos of a raging fire. State-of-the-art aerial ladder rigs like Pierce's are lifesavers. They're so important fire departments conduct ladder tests to make sure their rigs are always in perfect working order. So what we're doing is

we're just simulating that we've got a fire on the top floor. We're going to try and ventilate this thing, make it easier for the firefighters to get into. In this test, San Diego, California's Fire Department Station 11 extends four ground stabilizing arms called

outriggers and raise the ladder to the top of an eight-story high-rise. The goal is to set the ladder about 15 cm from the roofline, avoiding the jutting, potentially unsound roof edge. And in a situation like this, what it's going to

be is we're going to use this ladder to get people down, not necessarily from the roof but from the patios or from their rooms if possible. When these firefighters need to heat things up even further, Station 11 ladder truck teams come here to an EXN

training facility turned firefighter and fire truck test ground. We simulate boat fires, tanker fires, car fires, structure fires, even some wildland stuff. It's an outstanding tool. A closed room fire test is underway. Ladder truck teams swiftly mount the 30 m ladder, moving to the roof to ventilate

From above, the lead man first sounds the structure to make sure it's safe. Sound to avoid a fatal collapse. The Station 11 ladder team stays along the edges of the roof. Moving across the roof is called going cross-country and it can be the fastest but most dangerous route.

To take I'm checking the roof to see where the hot spots are. This thermal image will tell me where the hottest spot of the roof is and that's exactly where we want to cut our hole. That's where we're going to get the most bang

For our... What the ladder team opens the roof with a chainsaw to ventilate the burning room. Ventilating lets in cooler air, releases scorching heat, and helps clear toxic, visibility impairing smoke. But once the holes are cut, the team needs to get off the unstable roof.

Fast. This is no place that you want to be. It's probably one of the most dangerous things that we do. So our SOPs are, as soon as we get that hole cut, we're off the roof. The only way off the roof is with the

Fire Truck Manufacturing: Inside the Largest Factory | FD Engineering

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