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Heavy Duty Bus Parts displayed its new rebond foam (left) for school bus seats during the STN EXPO Trade Show. While also unveiling its latest BTI Seat as a standard option for IC Bus to allow student transporters the option of upgrading to seat belts, SafeGuard also showed its new SuperStar seat (right) that is designed for preschoolers weighing between 25 and 90 pounds. SafeGuard said it is the only restraint engineered with the added safety of car- seat technology while giving student transporters added versatility.


Te school bus market is recovering from the crash around 2008 to 2010, he added, so the volume of work is up. “We are solving this issue by having more automation in our plants, not to replace people, but to fill in the gaps and still pro- duce a safe seating option without raising costs,” he explained. “At HSM, we’re very proud to have been the exclusive manufac- turer of C.E. White seats since 2006, and we’re building a new factory near the Blue Bird plant in North Carolina to manufac- ture seats. Our foam is made in North Carolina, too, and our steel is from Ft. Smith, Arkansas.” Aaron Harris of BESI, Inc. shared insights regarding fire block seat covers and three-point, lap-shoulder belts. “How we make seat covers depends on the seat manufactur-


er. Some use an inner and an outer frame now, and have two different covers,” he told STN. “We’ve got manufacturers who have gone to a zipper back seat cover so it is easier to replace, but that adds cost. Keeping the integrity of the seat cover is important, any break in the material compromises the safety.” A fire block seat cover will not only self-extinguish, he added, but also give a bus driver more time to evacuate the students. IMMI’s SafeGuard seat with a new three-point lap/shoulder


24School Transportation News • AUGUST 2017


belt system that retracts right out of the seat also makes cover replacement much easier, Harris observed. “Attachments are changing, too,” he added. “Traditionally,


they’ve been stapled on. Besi sells staple seat covers, or hook and loop fastener. Some of the newer manufacturers are using a J-hook, which is from the automotive industry. A J-hook is a plastic channel that another piece of plastic fits into that fastens the seat cover.” He said customers have asked Besi for pockets in barrier


covers to store things like the lap tray of a wheelchair. “You have to take those off for transport, so having a safe place to store them is important,” he explained. With so much technology coming into the school bus, like


Wi-Fi, Harris said Besi is also receiving requests for places in the seats to store laptops or tablets. “Tese storage areas must be under the seat, so it won’t


compromise the compartmentalization safety,” he said. “Te barrier covers are pretty safe; they face away from the passenger. But anytime you change the seat back, you have to think about what that does to your FMVSS 222 rating.” ●


CELEBRATING25YEARS


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