Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH
Nashua Fire Rescue has established a Capital Equipment Replacement Fund (CERF) that is intended to serve
as a guiding document in planning for the replacement of its entire fleet of emergency and non-emergency
units. As a general rule, the CERF uses a unit’s age as an initial assessment factor in planning to move a unit
from frontline status to a reserve unit status. However, the ultimate determination to replace a unit is
conducted on a case-by-case basis using many of the factors previously mentioned. According to the
Department’s CERF document, fire engines are scheduled to be used in a frontline capacity for 12 years
before moving into a reserve status, and reserve units are maintained until a newer unit is cycled into reserve
status. Nashua Fire Rescue has also identified a frontline benchmark of 15 years for an aerial (ladder)
apparatus before a unit is rotated into a reserve status, with the reserve unit being kept until a newer unit is
cycled into reserve status. The current benchmarks utilized by Nashua Fire Rescue are considered to be within
generally accepted industry standards. Beyond the frontline lifecycle of fire engines and aerial units, the
Department has also established various frontline service lifecycles of all capital assets and has been
relatively successful in adhering to the established schedule, with the ultimate replacement made upon a
comprehensive assessment of the unit’s operational status.
As previously mentioned, the replacement of apparatus based entirely on age does not account for many
factors that should be considered. ESCI encourages Nashua Fire Rescue leadership to continue using the
following additional criteria when evaluating a unit for replacement:
» Mileage and/or engine hours.
= — Reliability schedule (based on days or shifts in which the vehicle is out of service for maintenance).
» Maintenance and repair costs (excluding fuel).
= Current financial value, or financial cost/benefit, associated with keeping or disposing of the
apparatus.
A variety of fleet analysis models exist to assist a department's leadership in evaluating when a unit should
be replaced. One system for evaluating apparatus replacement is to score the relevant factors ona scale (i.e.,
a 1-5 or 1-10 scale), which may be weighted to reflect the importance or value (e.g., repair & maintenance
costs coupled with decreased reliability measures may overshadow an arbitrary aged-based replacement
schedule). A second model establishes a point value for each of the following factors:
» Every year of age adds one point.
» Mileage (1 point for each 10,000 miles).
= Repairs/month, on average (< 1/month =1 point, 1 per month = 2 points, > 2 months = 5 points).
» Maintenance/repair costs (excludes non-routine): 1 to 5 points awarded based on life-time
maintenance/repair costs for the apparatus (e.g., 5 points awarded for M&R costs = 80% to 100% of
vehicle purchase price, prorated for lesser cost amounts).
Total ultimate “points” earned by a particular unit can help to determine when a vehicle should be
transitioned from frontline status to reserve status and ultimately taken out-of-service
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ESC) Consulting International 98
