Houston airport's customized trucks raise questions

A city of Houston agency that recently laid off 200 employees has spent tens of thousands of dollars to install and then remove some custom equipment that made several vehicles look like monster trucks, Local 2 Investigates reported on Friday.

The Houston Airport System purchased three 2010 Chevrolet Suburbans for $142,000 in 2009. The price tag includes includes about $30,000 to raise the suspensions and install custom, name-brand off-road tires and shocks for the vehicles.

"Those are for high school kids with rich daddies," said a veteran of building customized off-road trucks, who was involved in upgrading the airport trucks.  

He said airport managers specifically requested that each truck be outfitted with suspensions that raised them 16-inches above factory specified height.  He said they were very specific in requesting the shocks, tires, and flashy rims for each vehicle.

"It's not top of the line, but it's good stuff," he said, requesting that his name not be published.

The airport system's current leaders found out the vehicles were intended for high water rescues, even though the airport has never handled such rescues.  Even during the 2001 Tropical Storm Allison, a 500-year flood that prompted evacuations with more than 50,000 flooded homes, no water rescues were conducted at any of Houston's airports, city airport managers said.

Over the past month, those new airport managers decided to spend another $20,000 to remove all of the custom equipment and undo all of the upgrades to bring the vehicles back to factory specifications.

"This is a reflection of excess, entirely unnecessary," said David Siddons of Fulshear, a frequent traveler out of Intercontinental Airport.

"It's not what I like with my money," he added when shown a picture of the trucks.  "It's not functional.  I see a complete waste of money.  That's what I see and I don't understand that kind of spending for those vehicles."

Airport staffing and vehicle purchases are not paid by general fund tax dollars.  The money comes from an "Enterprise Fund" that receives money from airport parking and from fees tacked onto each airline ticket.

Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz told Local 2 Investigates that previous managers who no longer work at the airport made the decision to buy and outfit the trucks in that manner.

"I don't see the need the same way.  They had the best intentions, but I would disagree with them that we need these types of vehicles," said Diaz.

Mary Case, the general manager at Intercontinental Airport, told Local 2 Investigates, "We're always looking at ways to gain efficiencies and so we're going to repurpose them and put them back into the fleet."

She said the three vehicles will be moved into service as airport fire station vehicles, which should recoup some of the money.   She said three vehicles that were set to be purchased in the upcoming budget year will no longer be needed for airport fire stations since these trucks will be used there.

Local 2 Investigates cameras were rolling as workers in a Houston area specialty truck shop started removing the custom suspensions, Fox Racing Shocks, Nitto Mud Grappler tires and shiny, custom rims.

Workers at the shop said they have routinely built high-water rescue vehicles, but these trucks were never properly designed to handle the job.

Those workers said the vehicles were not designed to hold enough people, had no ladders to climb up to the chest-high passenger compartment, and the electronics were never raised from the wheel and undercarriage areas.   That means the trucks, as they were built, would short out in high water and would be difficult for victims or rescuers in firefighting gear to access.

Typically, those workers said water rescue vehicles have the electronics raised to avoid the water.

Houston City Council Member Ed Gonzalez, who serves on council's transportation and aviation committee, told Local 2 Investigates, "It's disturbing.  It sounds like really bad judgment."

He said, "No one wants to be spending money (that way)" but he said he has confidence in the airport's current managers.

Mayor Annise Parker's office said all future vehicle purchases must be approved by the airport director to make sure this does not happen again.