Eighteen months ago we received two new Heavy Rescue Trucks. The immediate question was what to do with fifty plus Paratech Struts, forty Paratech Extensions, a mess of Paratech Bases, and additional Paratech Accessories. We had some of our own ideas and had seen some examples of manufactured storage devices/containers. The Chief had seen an option while in Texas, which he described as, “some kind of black plastic.” So the search began. One of the guys in our department is a “Googleologist”, just ask him, and if he can’t find it, it does not exist. A day later, he emailed me a link to Plastix Plus.
We picked up the phone and met Mike Snow. After explaining exactly what we were looking for, Mike said that Plastix Plus was going to be able to deliver what we needed. The initial sketch was faxed to Plastix Plus. After several additional conversations and multiple revisions, the final drawing was sent to Mike. The daunting task began.
Once the big project was under way, we turned to the custom bins needed to hold all of the remaining Paratech items. Working with Mike, we devised a system where we could do our own drawing and submit them via fax. That worked extremely well and enabled us to check all of the tolerances before anything was produced. Ten custom bins later, we were off to the races.
As our large project continued, Mike went out of his way to send us photographs showing us the progress. When it neared completion, Mike spent the extra time needed to come up with the best and most cost efficient method to ship the order.
The day was finally here, the only question was, where to get a forklift? Eight (8) sheets of material, two hundred (200) welding rods, one hundred (100) stainless screws, thirty (30) man hours, four hundred fifty (450) pounds, and a custom shipping crate, and we would have one truly custom Plasix Plus storage rack. The semi-truck arrived, the frontend loader was on hand and eight firefighters stood by. The rack was unloaded and the custom crate removed. As if we had planned it this way, the rack slid right into place.
Through that entire initial process and since then, we continued to design and order additional bins from Mike at Plastix Plus. Twelve months, eighty plus custom bins, trays, and anything else we asked Plastix Plus to make for us, our two Heavy Rescue Trucks have become well organized and easy to maintain assets in our department’s fleet. Three custom trays have even found their way under the bench seats in our New Medic units.
Mike Snow, along with the entire staff at Plastix Plus, has gone above and beyond with the products and services they have provided to us. We will continue to use Plastix Plus for new bins and custom products as our Rescues continue to evolve and we find additional uses for their product throughout our entire fleet. We would highly recommend Plastix Plus to anyone looking for alternative storage methods for their Fire Apparatus, Officers’ Cars/Trucks, and even around the fire station.
