gelled up bus, full of kids, sitting along the road when the weather outside is not fit for man or beast,” said Christensen. Although he was told by more than one
associate that his fuel blending schedule was overly cautious, Christensen stated he was one of just a handful of transpor- tation directors who can make the claim that he never once had a bus stall during the winter due to gelled fuel. Te rapid change in temperatures can
also cause mayhem in a bus’ diesel tanks, as
experienced by Cook-Illinois Cor-
poration. Last year, the Chicago-based contractor experienced quickly varying temperatures, with one day at -10 degrees and then next jumping to 35 degrees. Te difference caused a considerable amount of condensation to build inside the fuel tanks of the buses. “What we try to do best is keep our
tanks as clean as possible, have them checked and professionally cleaned at
least once per year,” said John Benish, chief operating officer for Cook-Illinois. “We operate bio-diesel, and all synthetic oils and lubes and this helps quite a bit when it really gets cold.”
Inspect Everything To fully prepare for the upcoming win-
ter season, most, if not all, school districts perform one of the most important ac- tions to prevent issues while on icy or wet roadways — inspecting every inch of their buses. Jim Engler, assistant direc- tor of Jefferson County Public schools in Louisville, Ky., took some lessons learned from last winter and is making sure all his department’s employees understand the importance of preventative maintenance on their school buses. Te staff must check all connections, which means tak- ing them apart, cleaning them out and spraying connection sealer in all the nec- essary areas.
For Houston Independent School Dis-
trict, inspections are definitely part of the game plan, but rather than check for snow- readiness, Paul Youngjohn and the rest of the staff makes sure the air conditioning units are ready for any overheated routes. “Tere are probably only 10 to 20 days
where the heaters or defrosters are turned on,” explained Youngjohn, the district’s man- ager of driver training. “However, 90 percent of the buses have rear heaters for those few really cold days (upper 20s-30s). I know the northern people would laugh at us.” On the rare occasion where they do
experience snow, school is normally cancelled, which only happens every five to seven years. The precaution is taken because of concern over other motorists who don’t have experience with driving in snow. “Unless you’re from the north, no one
here knows how to drive in snow or icy conditions,” added Youngjohn. ■
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