SPECIAL REPORT “With our STAR product line, we’ve been managing


a supplier change for a component and raw material shortages,” Cooley added. “Clearly, this is not ideal for anyone, especially our customers. However, our customers recognize these struggles, because they see them every day in their own lives when they go to the store or order products online. It will get better. But for now, our supply chain team is doing an in- credible job guiding us through this storm.” There is a finite number of suppliers who supply


products to school bus manufacturers and school fleets. Many suppliers have built rapport with those up and down the supply chain to help manage in- ventory levels and prices as best they can. “The school bus industry doesn’t have a wide range of manufacturers for a lot of the products,” said Tom Sackett, owner of Easy Way Safety Ser- vices in Cincinnati. “Typically, only one or two companies make products for individual situa- tions, in which case we’re all buying them from the same person. How we satisfy our customers is up to each individual company. We decided 15 to 16 years ago that we wanted to increase our inventory so that when people call, we are able to ship within a day on about 90 percent of our orders.”


Fleets that are feeling the


15%


impact of the foam shortage on school bus seats.


(Out of 163 magazine survey responses.)


54%


Fleets that have school


buses out- of-service


because they await parts delivery that has been negatively impacted by supply chain challenges.


(Out of 163 responses.)


20 School Transportation News • MARCH 2022


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68