lap-shoulder belts on school buses in 2000. “Each individual school district or con-
tractor must assess which vehicle type and specification, including seating, best meets the needs of their individual customers,” said Larry Bannon, vice president of new business development for Syntec Seating Solutions, which like its competitors, offers a full line of belted and unbelted school bus seats. “We do not, however, have any direct evidence that the price of three-point seat belts has been the deciding factor in a customer choosing a bus above or below 10,000 pounds GVWR.” Since the new FMVSS 222 standards took
effect, C.E. White Company officials said cus- tomers have been approaching representatives with seating questions. “Today, the questions are more about the
safety features that they bring to the school bus and if there is any loss of occupancy,” said Tony Everett, vice president of transportation solutions at Hickory Springs, which acquired C.E. White in January. C.E. White advises customers to maintain a 15-inch aisle space at the top of the seats to allow the driver or emergency personnel to quickly assist injured students or to ease evacuation. “When choosing the seats for a school bus,
look for the seat that will best hold students in the FMVSS 222 compartmental zone in the event of an incident, without striking another child, the side wall or the seat in front of them,” said Everett, adding that C.E. White offers three-point belted seats with the same overall dimensions as a standard school bus seat, allowing for zero loss of occupancy. School-bus body manufacturers, mean-
while, said safety has always been the top priority, as reflected by the numerous safety features and three-point belted seating options offered for years. “Tis is not a big deal. We already had
the product (lap-shoulder belt on Type A-1), so it wasn’t a hard transition for us,” said Steve Girardin, president and CEO of Micro Bird, Inc. “Tis is not to circumvent any requirements. Many customers need (heavier buses) for more payload.” Blue Bird offers a full line of 10 Micro
Bird Type A models equipped with the lat- est safety features, including purpose-built passenger seats. Te company uses both GM (85 percent) and Ford (15 percent) chassis cutaways and offers school buses above and below 10,000 pounds. Tomas Built Buses also offers a full line
of Type-As to meet the needs of customers and regulators. Te Minotour line is offered on both GM and Ford chassis, ranging from
www.stnonline.com 55
9,900 pounds to 14,500 pounds GVWR. “Tree-point seat belts have been available
on all models of Tomas Built Buses since 2004,” said Ken Hedgecock, Tomas Built vice president of sales, service and marketing. Trans Tech Bus provides both conven-
tional-fuel and electric Type A school buses. While most of its units are based on GM platforms, the company has an exclusive Smith Electric Vehicle chassis for its eTrans product.
Te Trans Tech ST Aero model complies with the mandated three-point seat belt on buses under 10,000 GVWR. National Sales Manager Brian Barrington said the company already was installing three-point seats previous to the requirement and that the price point is not the issue it once was. “From our perspective, the cost has come
down considerably since they were first introduced in 2000,” he said.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84