“It’s important to know your district and
which areas to be concerned about.” — Brad Carpenter, co-owner of Brown Bus Co.
W
Whether your school bus operation is located in Idaho, Illinois, Alaska or anywhere
else with cold weather, transportation directors say it is crucial they know the local area like the back of their hands to ensure their fleets, and drivers, are fully prepared for winter weather conditions. For some, winter preparation is not limited to the fall season but takes place year-round.
Just ask Lionel Pinn, director of transportation for the Centralia/Chehalis Pupil Transporta- tion Cooperative, located in western Washington between Portland and Seattle. “While there are operational activities that take place as we get closer to the inclem-
ent weather season, our administrative prepping is an ongoing activity,” Pinn said. “Part of our start-up preparations take place annually in August, including an inspection of the snow chains, which are carried on the school bus year round. We also inspect and test the automatic block heaters for our engines.” Brad Carpenter, co-owner of school bus contractor Brown Bus Company in Nampa,
Idaho, said about one-third of his fleet is equipped with heaters that have timers to en- sure the proper preheating of bus engines and interiors. Brown Bus also uses automatic tire chains on the buses traversing rural routes, which become slick with snow and ice when temperatures plummet. “If there’s a cold snap and you’re not prepared, drivers could have problems with
(fuel) gelling, and the buses will stall and die,” said Carpenter, who has been in the busi- ness 21 years. “We have a fuel blend, a stove oil blend, so the diesel fuel won’t gel in the cold. We work our way up from 10-, 20- and 30-percent blends as it starts to get colder, to make the fuel stronger to get through the wintertime.”
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