EMSWORLD.com | APRIL 2016 17
how often preventative maintenance is done between a Type
III and a Type I heavy-duty in a high-mileage system. In this
example, extended service cycles may show an advantage for the
medium-duty chassis, although fuel mileage may be sacrificed.
Repair Costs
Review all repair and preventative maintenance costs. Preven-
tative maintenance allows the comparison of cost of chassis
styles versus fuel consumption. Consider cost per mile and fuel
miles per gallon if possible. Vehicles trending up in cost per
mile and down in miles per gallon could signal possible areas of
failure. Evaluation of this data will begin to show areas where
additional presentative maintenance measures can be put in
place to reduce cost such as early detection of coolant leaks
from failing water pumps or radiators, fouled diesel injectors
reducing fuel miles or even DPF (diesel particulate filter) clog-
ging to name a few.
Breakdowns
No pun intended, but when a vehicle fails mechanically, break
down the data into why a road or recovery call was necessary.
If a particular reason for road failure is evident, comparison of
the data across the whole fleet may reveal a trend that needs to
be addressed. Not all failures are chassis failures. Many failures
can be traced back to an inadequate clinical module mounted on
the ambulance chassis, which in design or quality of construc-
tion may not meet the rigors of the service provided.
Type I: Heavy-duty/AD medium-duty truck.
Type II: Van, sprinter or transit style.
Type III: Van-style form and clinical box mounted on the rear chassis.