Eaton, who has 26 years of experience with Eagle
County under his belt, shared a similar philosophy. The district runs only Michelin XZE2s on its bus steer axles and Michelin XDN2s on drive axles. “We’ve been buying these same tires for as long as I’ve been here. The tires are expensive up front, but they last. We tend to age them out before we wear them out,” he said. “It’s about value, not price. We’ve been doing it this way for so long because it works.” The North Kansas City district contracts its tire work
to a company that’s a trusted partner. “They handle most of our tire changes unless it’s something urgent in the morning like a flat. Having that partnership in place really saves us time and keeps our fleet moving,” Dooley said. “We’ve used Goodyear, Continental, BF Goodrich, whatever is available. We don’t have a strong brand pref- erence, but I do feel that Continental and Goodyear wear better than the Michelins that come standard.” The school district does not run retreads on any of its buses. “Every tire that we put on is new,” he said. “That’s an investment in safety and reliability that pays off in the long run.” Meanwhile, Eaton said he believes in investing in
premium tires for long-term value and buying the same brand and types of tires. “We only need to stock the two kinds of tires—steer and drive—which really helps us manage inventory efficiently,” he added. Of course, even the top pros have their own approach- es to their craft. When it comes to purchasing, Dooley said he doesn’t spend a lot of time shopping for different prices. “I’d rather work with vendors I trust, who can get me what I need quickly and keep our fleet on the road,” he said. “Midwest Bus Sales knows our fleet, and they’ve talked about going back to a consignment setup, where they stock the shelves and bill us as we use parts. For a district with two garages like ours, that kind of support would be a big help.” All four districts have made the transition to LED light-
ing for reliability and reduced maintenance times. Eaton said all of the Eagle County district’s new bus
orders come pre-equipped with LED lighting and First Light illuminated stop arm systems and front and back school bus signs. “We’re even retrofitting our older buses with First
Light’s stop arms and school bus signs,” he said. “We’ve had great experience with their products. They’re bright, reliable and add visibility.” It’s also important to take unique local conditions into
consideration when purchasing parts and managing inventory. “Living up here in the mountains in Colorado, we’re
required to have drive-line retarders...and we have the exhaust brakes through the Cummins engines we run, so we’re very fortunate that having those two second- ary braking systems on our buses means we don’t go through a lot of brakes,” Eaton said. On the other hand, Dooley noted that North Kansas
City goes through brake shoes fast. “About 20 boxes ev- ery two weeks,” he estimated. “So, I buy drums and shoes by the pallet. It’s more efficient and more cost-effective to stay ahead of demand like that.” DeBolt recommended developing and maintaining
open, honest and ongoing relationships with the district fiscal department as a budgeting best practice. He avoids “crying wolf” so that his budget requests are trusted and taken seriously. “When I go to them and ask for money, they know it’s
legitimate. That trust makes a huge difference,” he sug- gested. “We don’t guess with variable costs like fuel. We agree on a number, but we all understand it may need to be adjusted later.” When possible, Waters makes a point of purchasing
from vendors that offer longer warranties and then keeping track of warranties on specific parts. “One company might have a three-year warranty, another one might have a five-year warranty,” he explained. He said he prefers paperless inspections and mainte- nance, using a system that automatically generates work orders and alerts based on input. “We don’t have paper in our buses. We have tablets,” he said. “If drivers have an issue, they put it in the tablet. It sends me an email and creates a work order. I can go on there, look at the codes of everything.” Eaton said investing in training, whenever possible and practical, is another value-added best practice. “We definitely try to get into any training that’s available to keep them up to snuff with standards. But any time you can stay on top of your game in ever-changing industry, that helps cut down on your downtime, too,” he said. Best practices shouldn’t be shaped by how many or
few vehicles a district operates, DeBolt noted. “We’re all driving the same equipment—big or small fleet. The best practices don’t change that much,” he said. Two keys to success above all, DeBolt insisted, are the
ability to gather crucial information and roll with the punches. When it comes to the former, he said a search for better fuel economy led to the use of low rolling re- sistance tires and other cost savings. As to the latter, DeBolt underscored the value of hon- esty: “Our mantra is, we can deal with anything as long as we know what we’re dealing with.” ●
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