42 School Transportation News Magazine September 2011 Matters…
Because Looking Good
years is a pretty good life span for a bus seatback. “Te more you use it, the quicker it wears out. It
depends on discipline policies and the type of stu- dents you have.” Roger Ashby, vice president of Foam Rubber LLC, said kids can be tougher on bus seats than
❝
encased in vinyl treated with a fire retardant that slows the spread of flames. While both the vinyl and the foam meet FMVSS 302 standards on nonflam- mability, experts said any punctures in the vinyl and foam create air pockets inside the vinyl that fuel flames coming in contact with the foam. Murphy
Any time there is any damage we repair it right away. We require
our bus drivers to ‘ost-trip their buses every day. If there is graffiti that they can remove, they do it. We have people who repair seats daily as needed. ❞
— Charlie Ott, Clovis (Calif.) Unified School District
300-pound football players. “Kids will be kids, and they will do any number of things they should not be doing. I don’t know of any way you can stop them altogether,” he said. Ashby also suggested that the inspection process-
es from state to state may also contribute to bus seat replacement costs. “Te inspection process usually is conducted by
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Brandon Billingsley of Heavy Duty Bus Parts takes time during the STN EXPO trade show in Reno, Nev., to explain how the new “I-skin” integrally bonded foam seat essentially repels vandals and resists a breakdown of the foam. The product was developed by Heavy Duty Bus Parts and partner company Universal Urethane for school bus seat manufacturer C.E. White.
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the state police, and they determine what needs to be replaced or repaired,” Ashby said. “Te criteria they use to determine if a seat needs to be changed varies from state to state, and I would venture to say from inspector to inspector even in the same state. Tere are a variety of testing techniques and some are very unscientific. Many use what I call the ‘Charmin’ test. Tey squeeze the corner of the seat and, if they feel metal, they ask that the seat be replaced. Tey have the safety of children in mind and that’s good, but they are also requiring the school district to spend money when it may not have to. Even when school districts conduct a pre-inspection check, they look for what the state inspector looks for.”
INCREASED FIRE HAZARD Cost isn’t the only reason to keep seats in good
repair and to prevent vandalism. Seats must meet strict federal regulations for fire safety. Te foam is
noted that fire safety is one reason why delamina- tion is a big issue. “Any time you damage the integrity of the vinyl, or
you have broken seams or the vinyl is cut, you have destroyed the fire block capability of that vinyl,” he said. “If flames get to the foam, it will get very hot and spread quickly,” Ashby agreed, saying that almost anything will
burn if it gets hot enough. “Every piece of foam that goes into a school bus
meets FMVSS 302. Everybody thinks that because the foam meets federal standards, it won’t burn. Steel will burn if it gets hot enough. Te federal stan- dards pertain to how quickly the material burns. Holes in the vinyl will allow fire to spread faster.” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley recently signed
a bill into law that requires an upgrade of materials used to make bus seats so they can pass the more stringent federal flammability test. That law states: “A school bus shall be con-
structed with materials that enable it to meet the criteria of the school bus upholstery fire block test established by the National School Trans- portation Specifications and Procedures adopted at the most recent National Congress on School Transportation.” Tose standards were adopted amid much fanfare
in May 2010.
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