page_title: Roller container
section_title: Containerized firefighting equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Roller container / Container types and applications / Containerized firefighting equipment
caption_attribution_description: Abrollbehälter Gefahrgut der BF Dortmund
context_page_description: A roller container is a container type that can be carried by trucks to be pushed to ground level by help of a hook and level arm with the container possibly sliding on steel roller wheels.
  Its original usage was in the collection of bulk waste resulting in the creation of the DIN standards to be initiated by city cleaning companies. An additional part defines a transport frame mounted on specialized rail cars that allows easy intermodal transport for these container types.
  Another important area is in the containerization of firefighting equipment used as swap body containers of fire trucks.
context_section_description: The roller container standards have become the basis of containerized firefighting equipment throughout Europe. The permanent mounting of equipment creates a large number of specialized fire trucks while containerization allows the use of only one transport truck with a level arm - in Germany it is called WLF (German Wechselladerfahrzeug / swap loader vehicle). In practical usage there are lighter specialized fire trucks for everyday usage while larger fire and catastrophic situations can be handled by using WLF in a shuttle operation bringing as much equipment to the scene as needed.
  The containers come in a great variety with national regulations to control common types, for example in Germany one may find
  AB-Dekon (Abrollbehälter Umweltschutz/Strahlenschutz/Gefahrgut) contains steam cleaners and shower compartments
  AB-MANV (Abrollbehälter Massenanfall von Verletzten) is mainly a stretcher carrier for a large number of injured
  AB-Nachschub (Abrollbehälter Rüst) contains construction tools to handle complex scenes
  AB-Schaum (Abrollbehälter Wasser/Schaum) a tank for remote areas with insufficient water supply (in the UK Foam Distribution Unit / foam pod)
  AB-ELW (Abrollbehälter Einsatzleitung) coordination center where multiple ELW may be combined to handle larger scenes (in the UK Command and Control Unit / command pod)
  AB-Schlauch (Abrollbehälter Schlauch) water hose extensions to attach to water supply in a larger distance (in the UK Hose Laying Unit / hose pod)
  For the most part the replacement of older fire trucks takes the form of new AB units in Germany. The AB units may be built from standard containers with equipment installed from different suppliers as required by the fire department. The WLF loader vehicle can be purchased independently with the availability of a wide variety of trucks on the market (that are not originally designed for firefighting) - the trucks are sent to specialized workshops that can convert them to WLF fire trucks by adding a hook lift, siren and communications. The AB units may be used far longer than the WLF trucks as the latter can be exchanged independently - this makes maintenance cheaper especially for special equipment that is only rarely needed. Additionally some firefighting equipment like the decontamination pod have advantages for military conversion dispatching them by standard NATO container transport.
caption: Abrollbehälter Gefahrgut
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