Allison Transmission-equipped Water Tankers

Allison Transmission is relied upon by fire and rescue services around the world for its fully automatic transmissions, which provide a host of benefits to this most critical application. Easy to operate in an emergency, they ensure reliability and maximum vehicle performance over any terrain. Low, and therefore less costly, transmission maintenance requirements, enable vehicles to be kept on the road and ready for action. Besides regular fire-fighting trucks, Allison supplies transmissions to water tankers, have played a significant role in rural area fire-fighting, as experienced by Clare County Fire & Rescue Service, in Ireland.


This fleet has five Allison-equipped water tankers – four Hino 500 Series trucks acquired in 2009 and 2010 and a Hino FS 6x4 purchased in 1992 – out of a total fleet of 24 vehicles of which 14 have Allison transmissions. This high proportion of water tankers among the fleet reflects the remote locations served by the brigade.

Allison transmissions have been specified on Clare County Fire & Rescue Service's vehicles since the early 1990s. Now most new vehicles, ordered through bodybuilders, come with an Allison, and they have made then mark for their reliability and durability.

The Hino 500 Series water tankers are equipped with a number of features to help support the specific demands on the Clare County fire brigade. The tanker carries a dam (an inflatable water pool), which it fills from the tank at the scene of the incident while tending to the fire. This allows fire fighters to continue extinguishing the fire while the tanker leaves to extract water from the nearest source such as a river or lake. A water monitor on the roof can be directed remotely from inside the truck's cab to spray forest fires as the truck drives along the adjacent road. A further pump located under the front bumper is configured to spray a mix of water and foam additive to break up oil spills at road traffic accidents.

Allison Transmission, Inc. (Allison) is the premier global provider of commercial duty automatic transmissions and hybrid propulsion systems. Allison products are specified by over 250 of the world's leading vehicle manufacturers and are used in many market sectors including bus, refuse, fire, construction, distribution, military and specialty applications.