Mechanic Alex Vanderhoof with Portland Public Schools in Oregon checks wiring for 4G device upgrades.
bus yards, where the buses were parked and worked alone, which solved the social distancing problem. “Usually, when you upgrade equipment, you must
wait for the bus to come in for maintenance or chase it down,” Byrd explained. “We didn’t have to chase any- thing. Everything was parked.” Work began in June 2020. In less than 90 days, each
of the district’s 591 buses had new internal and external camera systems and the 4G upgrades, a year and a half ahead of AT&T’s 3G sunset date. COVID’s cloud had another silver lining for Chesa-
peake. Byrd relayed that installations were completed ahead of the supply chain disruption that plagued vehicle manufacturers by delaying the delivery of critical parts, including the microprocessors needed for the 4G network equipment. Up the coast, officials at Connecticut-based student transportation contractor DATTCO also made the most of the down time. Vehicle Electronics Manager Mike Labriola said DATTCO was already talking with Zonar about the upgrade when COVID-19 hit. When business slowed because of school closings, it was a perfect time to initiate the upgrade. “We were shut down pretty much the whole summer
40 School Transportation News • MAY 2022
and we didn’t come back until August to get ready for the next school year,” Labriola explained. “We began the upgrade in September, when we had limited runs, and had the upgrade completed by November.” Labriola said company employees completed the 900-
bus upgrade by installing 200 units at a time. “Zonar would send us 200 units, and when we did the 200, I would give them the okay and they would send another 200 until the upgrade was complete,” Labriola said. “Initially, we thought the upgrade would take about six months to do.” While some Zonar clients were impacted by supply chain woes, Labriola said DATTCO was not among them. “I didn’t see any [supply chain disruption],” Labriola
continued. “I think [Zonar] had anticipated working with us and they had enough units on hand to do what we wanted to do. The shipping time was seven days. If they had an issue, we never saw it. It was a seamless transi- tion for me.” Meanwhile, Kelly Shahan, the transportation director
for the Red Clay Consolidated School District in northern New Castle County, Delaware, said she has been worry- free about her 150-bus fleet because TripSpark has kept her department well ahead of Verizon’s curve.
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