ladder on aerial

Departments will often design their tractor drawn aerial to have a roof ladder attached off the officer's side of the aerial (the ladder can also be attached inside the bed section of the aerial). This allows firefighters easy retrieval of the roof ladder while they climb the aerial to go to the roof. If fastened to the outside of the aerial, usually the ladder is not located on the driver's side so that it doesn’t obstruct the view of the driver when they are operating the aerial. The bracket system that holds the roof ladder to the aerial and a placard with the fire department’s name on it can make it difficult for firefighters to walk along the top of the trailer if it sticks out too far. (On the driver's side of the trailer, firefighters are unable to walk from one end of the trailer to the other because the control pedestal for the aerial blocks access.)

Make sure during the design phase that the bracket system is built to be sucked in towards the aerial to provide easier access for firefighters to transfer from one end of the trailer to the other. (Click to enlarge)

The examples below show the before and after pictures of how close the  placard bracket can be to the roof ladder. You can see the difference in the amount of space that becomes available for firefighters to walk along the top of the trailer with the ladder drawn in. (Click to enlarge)