Q&A


DTNA President and CEO John O’Leary speaks during the opening session of the ACT Expo on May 1, 2023 in Anaheim, California.


Daimler Trucks Taking Balanced Zero-Emissions Approach for Thomas Built Buses


Company president and CEO John O’Leary shares zero-emissions vision, which includes diesel for the next 15 years, and perspective on rising costs


With Ryan Gray | ryan@stnonline.com T


he name John O’Leary remains intrinsically tied to the Thomas Built Buses (TBB) brand for many in the school bus industry. After all, he was pres- ident and CEO from 2002-2010, a period when


the flagship Saf-T-Liner C2 was launched. And the fact he is now president and CEO of parent company Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) makes further sense. It’s safe to say O’Leary knows school buses as well


as anyone at DTNA, which acquired TBB through its subsidiary Freightliner in 1998. Fast forward to today,


16 School Transportation News • JUNE 2023


and after several executive leadership positions within the Daimler portfolio including chief financial officer of DTNA and chief transformation officer of Mer- cedes-Benz, O’Leary is now setting the zero-emissions strategy for the company’s entire portfolio, including school buses. School Transportation News sat down with O’Leary last


month at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Ana- heim, California, just hours before he took the main stage to provide the opening keynote to over 11,000 attendees—


PHOTO COURTESY OF ACT EXPO/GLADSTEIN, NEANDROSS & ASSOCIATES


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