Blog post written by Braun Industries Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Chad Brown

In our industry, you hear from ambulance sales representatives all the time about payload. So, what does that mean exactly?

First off, let me describe to you how we at Braun Industries arrive at determining what your payload is. When the raw chassis arrives, we weigh the chassis. Then, we build your ambulance on that chassis and weigh the total vehicle again. We subtract that total number from the Gross Vehicle Weight Requirement (GVWR) of the chassis (this is usually found on the cab door post on a sticker). That left over number is your available payload.

At Braun ambulances, we pay particular attention to the remaining payload on two fronts; your front axle available payload and your total available payload. I have traveled all over this beautiful country from EMS agency to fire department, and it amazes me every time I go into a fleet and look at their existing units in service and see that the KKK sticker in their oxygen compartment does not list their front available payload.

If you only have 200 pounds of remaining payload on your front axle and the unit is empty and does not yet have your equipment or personnel in the vehicle, it would stand to reason that once you load that up with equipment and personnel that you would now be overweight. This means your vehicle is now over the front GAWR (Gross Allowable Weight Requirement). Your tires, your brakes, and your chassis components are only rated for this weight. If you are over the weight limit, you expose yourself and your department to possible liability in an accident. Your maintenance and operational costs will rise because of premature component failure, i.e. brakes, tires, steering components, shocks, and fuel costs.

At Braun, we build our modules differently than every ambulance manufacturer by utilizing our exclusive Solid Body™ construction. We use the same alloys and materials throughout the entire build process. We weld our bodies together and do NOT utilize glues or adhesives in the build process. What this means to you as the end user is that our modules are lighter weight, yet stronger because of the welds. We will not sacrifice safety at Braun!

Your total available payload, along with center of gravity, need to be paid particular attention to when specifying your new unit. If you are close to and are approaching your maximum GVWR on the vehicle, your payload is diminished. This can cause your chassis’ lifecycle to end prematurely. Your operational and maintenance costs, mainly fuel, tires and brake consumption to be frequently changed out, thus the higher operational and maintenance costs.

When sitting down with your professional ambulance sales representative, remember to ask them about estimated payload. Does the manufacturer calculate front axle available payload? Do they post it on their trucks?

If you are in the process of specifying a new ambulance and want to discuss payload, please contact us. We will put you into contact with one of our professional ambulance sales representatives from one of our world-class dealerships.