Pierce Mfg. has been granted U.S. Patent #7,784,554 for its Pierce Ultimate Configuration (PUC) firefighting vehicle. The PUC is a multipurpose response vehicle that is engineered to eliminate the need for a bulky pump house, said Mike Moore, a company vice president. Instead, the patented vehicle features a two-step pump shift operation and redesigned pump panel, which frees up space while improving function, Moore said.

“A traditional truck has a large pump house that usually takes up four feet of space. It houses the pump, controls, all the plumbing that is dedicated to that,” he said. “With the PUC pump, what we did was integrate them into the chassis so the pump is under the cab. That let us shorten the wheel base a foot-and-a-half to make the truck more maneuverable.”

All chassis offer a tilt-cab, Moore said. So the company placed its pump under the cab so users had easy access to it for maintenance purposes.

“With today’s traditional trucks the pump is buried in the frame rail and you have to do all the service and maintenance lying on your back…,” he said. “Our pump is located on top of the frame rails so you can walk right up and do all the service work. So we increased the serviceability.”

The PUC is available on all Pierce custom chassis in side- and top-mount configurations, as well as on all aerial ladders, Moore said.