SPECIAL REPORT


many others: As a school bus driver. He started driving a school bus in North Carolina


during his senior year of high school and the passion grew from there. After graduating from North Caroli- na State University, he began working for Thomas Built Buses in 1988 in various engineering positions, later becoming a product manager and a program manager. “I was very fortunate to start there and kind of grow up in the school bus [industry],” he said. After almost 17 years with Thomas, he worked for


E-One, a manufacturer of heavy-duty fire trucks and emergency vehicles, for three and half years before joining International in 2009. He was chief engineer before moving to director of product development, VP of product strategy and planning, and head of commer- cial market planning, where he spent the last three years until being named VP and GM of IC Bus earlier this year. “I was on the global bus side trying to help expand the


product around the world,” he said, noting that he worked with John McKinney, the former president of Internation- al’s global bus division. He also worked closely with Reed for several years after she became VP and GM of IC Bus. “Trish is super respected in the industry, and [she]


and I really locked arms together and really just love the school bus space,” he said, adding that the industry is all about safely transporting students. “That’s fundamental- ly the motivators behind all of this for me personally … yellow is my blood, as you can say.” Then, Morosin took the reins, the CE Series was an- nounced, and the brand continued to grow. “I never imagined going from being a school bus driv- er to, in my opinion, leading the number one school bus company in the world,” he said. “That’s kind of a wonder- ful experience. And so that’s why I’m super excited, and I’m loving every day.” Chilton noted that by following in both Reed’s and


Morosin’s footsteps, he plans on staying the course and building upon the strong foundation that IC Bus already has, while fully leaning into the company’s three key principles. Drawing upon his engineering and school bus driver


background, he worked closely with Reed in the design of the CE Series school bus. He said together they set tar- get goals and designed a product with driver comfort in mind. After all, being a school bus driver “is a hard job.” “You’ve got 72 kids behind you, potentially making all kinds of noise,” he continued. “You’ve got all the distrac- tions from traffic and patterns and stop lights.” He noted that IC Bus wants to continue to help the school bus driving job be easier, whether that comes in the form of technology or ergonomic factors. “We’re putting our drivers front and center to make it


a great experience,” he said. “I think our latest product … demonstrates our commitment to making the driver expe- rience the best it can be.” For example, a month into his tenure, IC Bus an-


20 School Transportation News • APRIL 2025


nounced that First Light Illuminated School Bus Signs and Fully Illuminated Stop Arms are now standard on the next-generation IC Bus Electric CE Series school buses, effective immediately. First Light as standard equipment will extend to internal combustion engines in August. Morosin noted that Chilton being the new VP and GM


of IC Bus is a good path forward, especially with his histo- ry in the bus space. “Although much of it has been behind the scenes, he is the perfect person to take over,” she said. Chilton said through his experience he’s learned to lis- ten to what customers need. “I’m motivated by the safety of our kids and in the drivers experience and making sure it’s a great experience every day on the school bus,” he said. “…I enjoy being a thought leader and contribut- ing to making the product better every day. Obviously, it’s a very big conversation around how we approach that, but it’s super important that we’re continuing to make ourselves better. So those are motivating factors for me, and throughout my career that’s what I’ve done: work to make things better.”


Recognizing Trends Morosin noted that AI is a large trend that influences both the truck and bus space as well as how the compa- ny interacts with its customers now and into the future. “I think that is just fantastic that we’re at this point in technology where we don’t necessarily have to have large buckets of offerings, but that we can actually tailor to a specific customer those types of offerings,” she said, adding that technology will play a role in evolution of selling vehicles. In terms of the future of electric vehicles and the


California Air Resources Board pulling back full imple- mentation of its Advanced Clean Fleets rule, Chilton noted that it’s hard to navigate hypotheticals due to the constantly changing landscape. “But our core strategy is to be able to have a solution that’s ready for whatever the market needs are,” he said. Moving forward, Chilton said he’s committed to pro- viding solutions for customers and getting back to the fundamentals of being able to deliver buses on time. He said he knows the importance of buses being delivered at school start to provide service to students. “Being a thought leader and pushing the school bus in-


dustry to better ways of working and operating,” he said of other goals for himself and his team at IC Bus. “I think it’s important for us to help the industry through this change with the best vehicle, there’s octane products out there, there’s diesel products. We really want to have a solution for all the needs, no matter where the market is.” ●


Like other manufacturers, IC Bus declined to comment on impact of new tariffs at this time.


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