be leading to some constraints on the school bus side because there are many common compo- nents,” Denoyer said. “In particular, there’s a lot of tightness around the electric powertrains, which are in pretty strong demand. A lot more semiconductors go into electric powertrains than internal com- bustion engines. There’s also very strong demand for batteries in the light vehicle market and that has had an effect, too.” He added that the North Amer-
ican Class 5-7 bus backlog is stretched out 10 months, which is more than triple the long-term average. “Production is up 15 per- cent year-to-date through April, but orders have been strong for 18 months, and we’re not keeping up with demand,” he added. Denoyer said Ukraine sources
about half of the world’s supply of semiconductor-grade neon. “That’s been shut down since February, so we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. The industry understands that and is working hard to re-source,” he commented. Meanwhile, Brooke Garcia, CEO of
4Seasons Transportation in Calgary, Alberta, said the company special- izing in transporting children with special needs has experienced many supply chain issues. “We’ve noticed it big time, from acquiring buses and pieces of equipment to buying harnesses for our students with high needs. When we have a kiddo smash a piece of glass out of a bus, instead of two weeks it takes two to five months to get a piece of glass,” she said. But the biggest issue she cited
is not receiving new bus orders because of delays small bus man- ufacturers are experiencing in receiving cutaway chassis. “Because of that, I’m unable to guarantee con- tracts. So, I’m having to turn down work because I can’t guarantee bus-
es will actually be there,” she said. Garcia explained she was forced to cancel an order for vehicles when suppliers couldn’t guarantee a time- ly delivery. She sounded hopeful that a second order of vehicles will arrive by late December. She acknowledged the financial
tremors caused by the Great Supply Chain Crunch of 2022 will be felt for years to come. “Most contractors have three- to five-year contracts. So, you could be looking at five- to 10-year contracts, but if you don’t have the equipment there’s nothing you can do,” Garcia said. Yet she praised the vehicle manu-
facturers for being open and honest about the state of affairs. “They’ve been very transparent
that this is a challenge right now across the transportation industry, regardless of if its consumer or commercial equipment. Some of our manufacturers are saying two years, and some are saying a year [before the supply chain issue is resolved], so it could take a while,” she said.
And she emphasized the current
predicament is not the bus man- ufacturers’ fault. “I wouldn’t want anyone to think negatively toward them,” Garcia added. “This is an overarching issue for all vehicle manufacturers right now.” Meanwhile, Oyster said he views
the bigger challenge being the repair and maintenance of vehicles already on the road for Apple Bus, which serves 80 school districts in eight states from Alabama to Alaska. The company was acquired by First Student in February. “We’re seeing some cases of
dramatically extended vehicle downtime because parts aren’t avail- able. Instead of just calling our usual supplier, we’ve had cases where our fleet maintenance supervisor has made multiple calls and come to me and asked if I knew anyone
Quentin Kuhns Sales Manager
WE REALLY DO MEAN
FULL SERVICE
With radiators, DPFs, EGRs and more than 30,000 exhaust parts, it’s no wonder Auto-jet is the choice of school bus systems coast to coast.
AUTO-JET.COM 800-247-5391
www.stnonline.com 17
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