INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS Industry


THOMAS BUILT BUSES started 2010


with KELLEY PLATT stepping into the position as company president, succeed- ing John O’Leary, who served in the role since 2002. Platt was the general manager of business excellence since 2006 and joined the Tomas team via its parent company, Daimler Trucks North America, in 1989 as manager of treasury services. She was promoted to treasurer in 1997. A year later, Platt was involved in Daimler’s purchase of Tomas Built Buses. O’Leary will move into a new role with


Daimler Trucks North America. In other company news, AMERICAN


BUS SALES AND SERVICE, the Tomas dealer for Maryland, Delaware and the Dis- trict of Columbia, was awarded a contract for 59 Saf-T-Liner®HDX school buses. Te buses will be delivered to Montgomery County (Md.) Public Schools in June and July 2010. Te rear engine transit-style school bus contract required the buses to meet strict new, near-zero 2010 EPA emission standards.


Te COSMEN FAMILY, the largest


shareholder of NATIONAL EXPRESS, will participate in the transport group’s multi- million dollar rights issue after earlier opposing it. Spain’s Cosmen family, which owns 19.7


percent of the British bus and rail opera- tor, will spend around 74 million pounds (about $118 million U.S.) on their share


of the rescue rights issue, cementing im- proving relations with the board, said a company financial update in late 2009. Prior, National Express said it would


press ahead with the cash call, which would allow it to repay debt and avoid breaching loan terms, despite the Cos- mens voting against the share sale at a general meeting. The Cosmens, who dropped their


own proposal to buy National Express in September, wanted to sell the company to UK rival Stagecoach Group, and had been lobbying other National Express shareholders to push the board to re- start talks.


Members of the STUDENT TRANS-


PORTATION OF AMERICA and STUDENT TRANSPORTATION OF CANADA corporate family recently gathered in Charleston, S.C., to recognize fellow employees for extraordinary com- pany, community and military service. Among the employees recognized were: Connie Garcia of Williamstown, N.J., for 53 years of accident-free service; Henry Martin of Altoona, Pa., a school van driver whose concern for children without prop- er winter attire led him to create Project Winter Warmth, a non-profit that has been providing warm winter clothing to Pennsylvania school children since 1992; Don Perry, of Brampton, Ontario, a transit


16 School Transportation News Magazine February 2010


bus driver who was honored for his heroic rescue of a woman from her shattered ve- hicle in 2004; and Jeff Cote, of Manchester, N.H., who returned to drive a bus at STA’s Hooksett terminal after a 20-year career in the Air National Guard, which included three tours of duty in Kuwait.


Te state of North Carolina named IC


BUS the winner of its bid for 800 to 900 new CE Series school buses. IC Bus will deliver the buses this spring through its IC Bus dealer White’s International Trucks of High Point, N.C. It was a controversial move, at least amongst North Carolina taxpayers, who voiced concern about po- tentially losing more in-state jobs. North Carolina awards school bus contracts to the lowest bidder, in this case IC.


BESTBUSDEALS.COM promotes the


auction method of marketing and its staff can adapt to any size auction from a single seller, government agency, law enforcement agency, large and small bus contractors or a financial institution. Te staff will evaluate which option is best suited for each company: a live auction, a broadcast live auction, or a five day on- line auction. Once an option is selected, digital photos, cataloging, a marketing campaign, inspections, removal, terms and conditions will be scheduled for a successful auction. n


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