INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS: BRIEFS
CALIFORNIA IS FIRST STATE TO CERTIFY TRANS TECH’S ALL-ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS
BIZ BITES: NSTA and Zonar Systems award-
£ Though John Clements recently retired from Kings Canyon Unified in Reedley, Calif., he is pleased his longtime school district will be the first to operate a fully electric yellow bus.
tion process in late January. Te CHP’s Motor Carrier Safety Unit is
T
responsible for conducting inspections and providing certifications for school buses in the state. Te SSTe certification means that the bus complied with the applicable pro- visions of state law relating to construction, design, equipment and color. Te first SSTe is scheduled to go to Kings Canyon Unified School District in Reedley, Calif., in the near future, said Trans Tech National Sales Manager Brian Bar- rington, who noted that full production for the SSTe is expected to begin later this year. Meanwhile, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Pat-
rick announced several key grants and invest- ments in alternative-fuel vehicles, including the launch of an electric school bus pilot. According to a spokesperson involved in the Clinton Global Initiative’s (CGI)
Dealer Expansion £ Holland Bus Company invested more than $1 million in renovations to support growing demand in Michigan. It also received the 2013 Best in Region Award at Blue Bird’s Worldwide Dealer Meeting. The company has been a Blue Bird dealer for more than nine years.
30 School Transportation News March 2014
he new SSTe Type A electric school bus from Trans Tech Bus was approved for service in the Golden State after passing the California Highway Patrol certifica-
Electric Vehicle-to-Grid School Bus Demonstration, the Commonwealth began the request-for-bids process in December but has yet to choose a partner. Kevin Matthews of National Strategies
LLC, a member of the CGI working group, also noted the administration has not yet selected the school district(s) to participate in this year’s pilot. “We look forward to continuing to work with Massachusetts, which will be doing some exciting work with electric school buses. We just don’t know our exact role in the project,” Matthews told STN. Te state Department of Energy
Resources (DOER) will administer the alternative-fuel grant program — which received $11.7 million from the Federal Highway Administration — and solicit project proposals in the coming months. Working in partnership with CGI,
DOER will provide $1.8 million in grants for eight electric school buses.
ed three $50,000 hardware grants to Cook-Illinois Corporation of Oak Forest, Ill.; Sunrise Transportation Inc. of Chicago; and Acme Bus Corp./ Baumann & Sons Buses of Ronkon- koma, N.Y. … Rush Enterprises, Inc. expanded its presence in the Midwest, a key market for Navistar and major fleets, by acquiring certain assets of CIT, Inc., including International commercial truck dealerships in Illinois and Indiana … UltraLED Lighting Inc., which was formed by the owners of Heavy Duty Bus Parts and its online subsidiary
DirectBus.com, acquired a privately held LED lighting company to expand across all fleet vehicle catego- ries in the 12-volt industry … Daimler Trucks North America introduced a new customer loyalty program for owner-operators and small fleets known as Truck Bucks, designed to reward cus- tomers with parts and service specials at Freightliner, Western Star, Detroit and Tomas Built Buses service locations … Te Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) featured Mesa Public Schools’ transportation operations as part of a new video series highlighting innovative uses of propane autogas … Transfinder announced it had a “record year,” closing with a 23-percent increase in orders for its transportation management solutions… Gatekeeper Systems Inc. secured a new contract from Mid-Columbia Bus Company, which operates more than 600 school buses and vehicles in Oregon and Idaho … According to research by Stertil Koni, installing the latest heavy-duty in-ground vehicle lifts can help cut facility-construction costs by as much as 25 percent … General Motors named Dan Ammann the new company president while Chuck Stevens will take over as executive vice president and CFO effective Jan. 15 … Richard Kolodziej, who has been president of NGVAmerica since 1995, recently announced his retirement … School Bus Logistics hired a new consultant, Lance Osler, to provide route operations support and software consulting services.
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