School Transportation News Magazine | September 2009
[Industry Connections] Student Transportation of Canada has increased its fleet of
Industry
“green” school buses seven-fold to more than 900 environmental- ly-friendly, biofuel vehicles operating throughout Ontario. “We are committed to remaining at the forefront of adopting
more efficient, cleaner, renewable alternative fuel sources,” said Chris Harwood, senior vice president of operations. Meanwhile, Student Transportation of America announced
that it has finalized its new fleet leasing program for the compa- ny’s fiscal year 2010. Te completed leasing transaction with two major financial institutions totaling $11 million for approximately 200 vehicles carries an effective fixed rate of 5.9 percent interest for six years.
On July 11,Cook-Illinois Corporation debuted its new IC hybrid
school bus in a parade lap before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Life Look 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet (see photo). Cook-Illinois ran in a pre-race lap with other hybrid vehicles as part of a green campaign by NASCAR’s sponsor, Coca-Cola.
the price of its 2010 Cummins engines that use SCR technology. Meanwhile, IC announced a $6,000 price decrease for its plug-in
hybrid electric school bus. Last November, the IRS included the IC PHEV in its $3,000 to $12,000 tax credit, and the bus is eligible for a $5,000 hybrid tax credit from the California Air Resources Board. In April, IC received $10 million to develop 60 next-generation die- sel hybrids from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Cable Assembly LLC, a 100-employee manufacturer of wire
harness assemblies used by Tomas Built Buses and other in- dustrial clients, is moving its factory from Graham to Whitsett, N.C. Te move is necessary to accommodate future growth, ac- cording to CEO Nick Moceri. Te company makes complex as- semblies of wires and connectors that are used in products from buses and recreational vehicles to boats and wind turbines.
Safety Vision recently launched a new blog, located at
www.candidoncameras.com. You can also find the company
Collins Bus Corporation signed a three-year deal last month
to be the exclusive manufacturer of Type A school buses for First Student with an option for two additional years. Delivery was expected to begin immediately. “It is important that we have the right vehicle for our cus-
tomers’ requirements and ensure the continued safe and secure transportation of the 4 million children we carry to and from school each day,” said Linda Bell, First Student’s president. Collins also sold two new NEXBUS gasoline-hybrids Type A school buses to Durham School Services in Rosemead, Calif.
A month after IC Bus announced a $6,000 to $8,000 price in-
crease for its model-year 2010 school buses with advanced EGR technology in its MaxxForce engines to meet EPA emissions re- quirements, Daimler Trucks announced that its line of Tomas Built Buses will experience a $9,000 price increase for its SCR tech- nology using Cummins engines. At this writing, a representative from Blue Bird said the company was finalizing information on
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on Flickr at
www.flickr.com/photos/safetyvision, Vimeo at
www.vimeo.com/safetyvision, and LinkedIn at
www.linkedin. com/companies/safety-vision.
Everyday Solutions, Inc. announced that the EveryPoint GPS
tracking unit has been network approved by TELUS for their MIKE network in Canada. Te company also announced that Charlotte County (Mass.) Public Schools standardized its fleet with GPS.
Te Tire Retread Information Bureau sent an open letter to
President Obama and Congress in July highlighting the environ- mental and safety track record of retreaded tires, which can be used on rear axle positions on school buses. Also in July, Best Foot Forward, a firm based in Oxford, UK,
that specializes in assisting communities and organizations to re- duce their carbon footprint, found that the retread manufactur-
ing process for a 17.5-inch tire emits 58.2 fewer pounds of CO2 than if that same tire was manufactured new. n
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