INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS Industry Bill Moore, founder of seating
and restraint manufacturer BESI, passed away on May 29. He was 65. Moore leaves behind a legacy that will live on in the industry he loved. After working for a Wayne school bus distributor in the early 1970s, he decided to start a com- pany that operated out of his own garage. Originally known as Bus Equipment Sales, it burgeoned
into a seating upholstery provider with only a few sewing ma- chines. Moore’s extensive knowledge of the industry and his determination led to the formation of what is now known as BESI, Inc.
Enova Systems, Inc., along with Navistar International Cor-
poration and its subsidiary IC Bus, is deploying 16 hybrid school buses to fill U.S. Department of Energy grants, with six of the buses going to Columbus City Schools in Ohio. Te other desti- nations were to be announced. Both Navistar and Enova stated that they believe this initial deployment is a critical next step in the evolution of the hybrid school bus program towards long- term production volume. Meanwhile, IC Bus announced the winner of its Canada’s
Greenest School contest, Jennifer Hao, a high school student from Burnaby, British Columbia. Her winning essay, “Burnaby North: Youth In Action,” talks about the importance of curbing pollution at her school, Burnaby North Secondary, with a stu- dent population of more than 2,500. She explained that very few students walk or ride their bikes and that there are daily traffic problems before and after school. She said she felt the inclusion of a hybrid bus would reduce emissions and increase awareness of green technologies. It worked. Hao’s school will be awarded a brand new hybrid
school bus from IC Bus, and she will receive a $3,000 scholarship. Tomas Built Buses has called 99 employees back to the
production line after they were laid off last year due to the economic downturn and decreased manufacturing output. Te company recently received major orders from at least two states and said it will need the additional employees through at least September.
Student Transportation
of America paid $830,000 to Connecticut’s Regional School District 17 to purchase its current fleet of school bus- es after the district selected STA as its student transporta-
18 School Transportation News Magazine July 2010
tion service provider. Te payment is part of STA’s national “$100 Million Education Stimulus Plan” to provide school districts across America with capital to invest back into education when they contract their school bus operations to STA. Te school dis- trict allocated a portion of the income to avoid teacher layoffs and to fund educational programs that were at risk of being cut.
Consolidated Safety Services, Inc., of Fairfax, Va., announced
the expansion of its Pupil Transportation Safety Program to North Carolina school districts. PTSP provides a national list of approved carriers that are evaluated for safety fitness and com- pliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Each passenger carrier seeking approval must pass a core competency evaluation and an on-site, DOT-compatible compliance review. Once approved, the carrier is subject to intensive routine secu- rity inspections, continual on-road performance monitoring and random assessments.
Rotary Lift developed a new online training course, “Sustain-
ability and Vehicle Maintenance Lifts,” that is accredited by the American Institute of Architects. Te course reviews the various kinds of vehicle lifts available and the environmental considerations surrounding them. Te primary focus is on environmentally- friendly in-ground lifts. Te course covers the evolution of vehicle lifts, technologies that protect the environment, sustainable alter- natives and safety considerations when specifying vehicle lifts. Visit
www.rotarylift.com for more information.
Double Coin Holdings, Ltd., and its North American sub-
sidiary CMA, LLC., along with the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), jointly announced their participation in a new Data Exchange Pilot Program (DEPP) to be commissioned this year. RMA developed the DEPP as a reporting program for tire manufacturers that do not currently have U.S. based man- ufacturing facilities. Te purpose of the reporting is to provide accurate and more timely tire shipment data to DEPP partici- pants to facilitate a better understanding of the U.S. tire business.
Beach Transportation from Missoula, Mont., provided its
services to nearly 3,000 attendees of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research that was held at the University of Montana. Conference coordinators sent a letter of appreciation to Beach, saying that the transportation was flawless and that the company went above and beyond in meeting their needs. Beach was able to handle the conference while still fulfilling its commit- ment to transporting local school children.
FirstGroup America recently donated $10,000 to Children’s
Miracle Network, an international, non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals as part of an ongoing organizational commitment. n
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 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92