www.stnonline.com
DATA, STATISTICS AND TRENDS
Another Banner Year School bus body manufacturers report the largest number of new builds in past decade
W
hile domestic manufacturing jobs, or lack thereof, made political headlines during the recent Presidential election, the school bus industry was firing on all cylinders. Total school bus produc-
tion number climbed for the fifth consecutive year after bottoming out following the Great Recession. Te School Transportation News annual survey of the eight bus-body and six chassis OEMs revealed a total of build of 50,612, with 43,302 of those school buses. Te difference between the two figures was the number of Multifunction School Activity Buses and “White” vehicles that are typically used for commercial or non-school-bus related government entities such as prisons. Te overall, 5-percent uptick in school bus-specific production,
year-over-year, has been the status quo for the past two reported manufacturing cycles of Nov. 1 through Oct. 31. It’s important to note here that STN’s survey covers buses manufactured, not sold. Prior to 2013-2014, the industry needed two consecutive 10- plus percent spikes to get itself out of the economic doldrums that gripped the world in 2008. Te school bus industry historically lags the rest of the U.S. economy by at least a year due to the fact school budgets are set in advance. Te Great Recession served to
lengthen that economic cycle, with the full force of the imploding housing bubble not hitting the industry until the 2010-2011 year, when only 30,304 total school buses were manufactured, down by more than 29 percent from the previous report. At that time, many school districts and, indeed, several states suspended their vehicle replacement cycles or deferred new purchases because school districts lacked the necessary funds from dried-up property tax coffers amid other budget concerns, namely funding the classroom. But the steady climb ever since – a total of about 40 percent
over the past five years – signals that school districts have (mostly) recovered and are replacing aging fleets at an ever-accelerating clip. Tis increased confidence has kept the OEMs busy, with several companies reporting increased new hires and the additions of shifts to keep up with demand. And the appetite for Type C conventional school buses as
well as Type A small school buses has increased dramatically. The conventional segment again represented the largest slice of the production pie, with 29,757 units reported, or nearly 69 percent of all school buses built over the past year. Still, the percentage of Type Cs dipped ever so slightly when com-
School Transportation News Annual School Bus Manufacturing Data
School Year 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2012-2013 2011-2012 2010-2011 2009-2010
2008-2009 2007-2008
2006-2007 MFSAB 1,061 (est.) 1,585 (est.) 2,500 (est.) 1,500 (est.) 3,000 (est.) 1,500 (est.) 1,160 (est.) 3,000 (est.)
3,000 (est.) 3,000 (est.)
4,000 Van. Conv. AAV Type A-1 2,978 2,084 2,303 3,924 5,406 5,499 4,111 3,712
2,070 1,699
Type A-2 6,424 6,132 6,017 3,921 1,912 1,912 4,699 4,587
3,294 4,614
Total
Type A 9,402
8,216 8,320 7,845 7,378 7,411 8,810 8,299
5,364 6,313
140 140 240 400 250
250 692
Type B Type C 29,757
28,640 27,071
25,230 21,563 18,713 25,791 23,737
26,253 26,153
Type D 4,143 4,344 3,662 4,098 3,953 3,940 5,669 4,689 6,676 6,265 Totals* 43,302 41,200 39,053 37,173 33,034 30,304 40,670 36,975 38,543 39,423
*Total count does not include MFSAB, AAV or “white” buses typically used for commercial applications. Source: SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION NEWS
11
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 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140
