Written By: Jeff Holtzclaw, Braun Industries Service Department

There is a fairly large number of items that need to be regularly checked to keep your emergency vehicle safe, dependable and providing its’ life saving functions. The intervals vary from daily to weekly to monthly, etc.

At Braun Industries, we build on many different chassis platforms. Due to this, you should set up a Periodic Maintenance (PM) schedule for your chassis with the input of  the chassis manufacturer. You can do this by contacting them directly, reviewing supplied literature, or visiting the chassis manufacturers’ web site for more information.

Below is a list of chassis and exterior checks that should be made at regular intervals. We recommending creating a checklist that makes it easy to remember these important items:

• Check the oil daily. If this seems like a lot of work, price a new motor.
• Check the air pressure in the tires daily. This is not only a safety consideration, but we’ve all heard about the increased fuel efficiency that comes with correctly inflated tires.
• Check the coolant reservoir bottle daily. They are clear and usually marked clearly so that it is a few seconds at most to check. Surprisingly enough, being a quart low may not set off a warning light, but may be enough to negatively affect the heat in both the cab and the ambulance module.
• Check the headlights for damage daily. The last driver may have picked up a rock and the light may still work for a short period of time ... they always fail when you can least afford the time to deal with it.
• Inspect the tires for uneven wear weekly. This may show signs of an alignment issue. Hitting a pot hole or a curb can effect the caster or camber and uneven loading or over loading can affect the toe.
• Check all lights weekly. There are a lot of lights on an ambulance. It is easy to miss one that's out if you are not specifically checking them.
• If your truck has air operated systems such as suspension or horns, there will be lanyards sticking out from the underside of the truck. These are water drains. Pull them once daily for three seconds to drain excess water. You will see that during the times of the year when the temperature changes are greater, there will be more water . Other times, you may see nothing, but pulling it every day will be a good habit forming exercise and will keep the cables and valves from seizing up from non-use.
• In general, do a walk around every day. Look for things that aren’t there that were yesterday. Look for things that are damaged or loose that could fall off during a run and could cause further damage to your vehicle or someone else’s.