IC Bus Wins North Carolina Contract

Several weeks ago, we wrote in this space about the possibility of Blue Bird grabbing the North Carolina yellow school bus contract and shutting out local company Thomas Built Buses. Strike that, as IC Bus ended up the low bidder and winning the lucrative contract for nearly 900 new Type C buses.

Local North Carolina residents are sure to be unhappy, as there were press reports last month detailing the public outrcry before the contract was even finalized. Several media outlets quoted residents who were perplexed that Thomas of High Point would not be keeping the business in state especially in light of the economy and skyrocketing unemployment.

At that time, Blue Bird looked like it would win as it was the low bidder, a state requirement for awarding such bids. But a spokesman at the North Carolina Office of Public Instruction said Blue Bird retracted its proposal apparently after discovering some internal errors in calculations that procluded the company from actually meeting the price it quoted the state. That left IC Bus as the new low bidder, and with that the deal for the close to 900 CE Series school buses was inked.

However, Blue Bird did win a multi-award contract for activity buses along with IC Bus, though the exact number of buses is unknown because those purchases are up to local districts. But, last month, John O’Leary, president at Thomas, >said last month that losing the North Carolina award would not translate into job losses at home, despite the fact the company has laid off about 400 workers in the past year due to the economy.

The IC win, meanwhile, also means the advanced EGR MaxxForce diesel engine makes it onto the state specification list for meeting upcoming 2010 EPA emissions requirements. Both Blue Bird and Thomas are meeting the standard with urea-based SCR Cummins engines.

In a statement, John McKinney, president of IC Bus, gave the credit to a local dealer for the contract win.

“The team from White’s International has a keen understanding of the needs of this customer. They helped demonstrate how IC Bus could be a partner to them during and after the sale.” McKinney commented.

North Carolina: Out with Thomas and in with Blue Bird?

By Ryan Gray

Though a final decision is pending, North Carolina appears to be set to award its 2010 bus bid to Blue Bird, marking an about face from a historic alliance with Thomas Built Buses. Not only is Thomas an in-state company but the way North Carolina's school bus specs were written called for items that Thomas was in the best position to provide, according to industry sources and Internet message boards.

North Carolina amended its bus specs in early September to make them more general to all three large bus manufacturers, with IC Bus rounding out that list. Thomas Built's president, John O'Leary, told local reporters this week that the development won't hurt the company's bottom line as 95 percent of bus sales occur out of state, anyway. As he told the local FOX News affiliate:

"We could've gone, ultimately, as low as Bluebird went. It would've been very irresponsible from our standpoint ... It's just getting down in the mud and wrestling around in that zero-profit game is not where we want to be."

Low bids are commonplace in the school bus industry, as schools nationwide must remain on constant watch to make sure they stay within if not under budget, especially in the current environment of no less than 48 states running deficits. But this represents an interesting turn of events, especially in light of published reports of struggles at Blue Bird's parent company Cerberus, which saw about half of its investors walk over the summer amid concerns over the company's position in the current marketplace and the decision to embrace a new hedge fund. Those that balked and walked reportedly took with them about $4 billion.

Blue Bird reps have said the company remains strong, but obviously the company seriously underbid its buses in comparison to what Thomas was able to offer for its C2 Saf-T-Liners. And the result is a backlash in North Carolina, where residents view the decision to contract with a Georgia-based company as a heretical move when state unemployment rates are hovering around 10.7 percent, one of the worst in the country. The local North Carolina FOX affiliate also reported that some Thomas workers were wondering aloud why the state doesn't require school systems to buy from in-state companies, since profits at North Carolina companies help keep workers employed. O'Leary said he understands that thinking, but points out he wouldn't want Georgia or Illinois to do the same thing. Plus, something that is not mentioned, Thomas uses many third-party suppliers for such things as mirrors that are manufactured out of state. So why should the actual bus be any different?

Proof in point that today's economy is making an already ultra-competitive school bus marketplace much more stiff.

Navistar Points to CARB Research to Back Up Claims Against SCR

Navistar, the parent company of IC Bus, has taken its fight against selective catalyst reduction and for advanced exhaust gas recirculation as the right choice for meeting upcoming EPA 2010 emissions requirements in lowering nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions at the tailpipe to no more than 0.2 grams. Currently, Navistar is suing the EPA in federal appeals court as it contends the feds by allowing SCR in its regulations will being increasing public health risks due to urea, the additive used in SCR to reduce NOx in the engine that has been used for the past two decades in Europe.

The aggressive marketing performed by Navistar this year has drawn criticism from many in automotive and fleet circles, such as Oliver Dixon's "Spiral of Dispair" article earlier this week on The World Trucks Blog at UK's www.roadtransport.com. But then, Navistar offered a rebuttal by claiming that a June letter penned by Bart Croes, chief of California Air Resources Board research, to the Health Effects Institute, a Boston nonprofit organization planning tests on 2010 engines, that said that the use of SCR represents a "large departure from conventional emission controls by introducing a liquid additive containing an organic form of nitrogen." According to MYETTNEWS.com, The letter goes on:

“Some toxic air contaminants that have been identified with SCR technology include hydrogen cyanide, cyanic acid, nitromethane, hydrazine, acrylonitrile, acrylamide, acetonitrile, and acetamide,” Croes wrote in his letter. “It is hoped that any exotic substances emitted from SCR technology will be at levels insignificant to exposure health effects.”

Although we are encouraged by findings to date, which suggest that the technology can deliver significant reductions of many species of toxicological relevance, this work has also documented the increase in some emissions such as some metals, nitrous oxide and nanoparticles.”

In the August issue of School Transportation News, contributor Bob Pudlewski writes that fleets must individually decide which technology best suits their needs, but either one has an increased price tag.

The debate rages on.

The 'New GM' Out of Bankruptcy, Still Committed to School Bus Market

As the industry has been closely watching the demise of GM, there seems to be some good news coming out of Detroit: the automaker is remaining dedicated to its small school bus business as it was emerging bankruptcy sooner than expected. A company spokesman recently told STN that the commitment to manufacturing chassis for the school bus market has not changed [Look for this article in the August STN issue].

Going forward, the big purchasers of GM cutaway chassis on the Chevy Express and GMC Savana platforms are Girardin Minibus and Trans-Tech. Thomas Built Buses also uses some GM. But in filing for bankruptcy, GM was separated from Opel, the German manufacturer responsible for much of GM's diesel expertise dating back to 1929. What could that mean for the diesel business?

Competition is stiff elsewhere, too. As GM's works hard to keep its head above water, the sharks are circling. That's not necessarily in the best interest of the taxpayers, which now effectively own GM, but it could be an impetus to truly a "New GM," as the company is now calling itself.

Speaking of competition, Collins Bus Corporation announced earlier this spring that it is developing a Ford gasoline-hybrid, as the automaker has slowly but surely been leaving the diesel market. Collins Bus as well as its line of Mid Bus and Corbeil products, have also traditionally built bodies on GM chassis, so it will be interesting to see how the recent deal with Azure Dynamics to develop the gasoline hybrid drive train for Ford will play out. Then there's potential Type A chassis production capabilities at Daimler Truck/Freightliner for Thomas and Navistar for its IC Bus line.

Meanwhile, Girardin Minibus is publicly, at least, reaffirming its relationship with GM because the auto manufacturer is staying true to diesel engine technology, at least in theory. As reported in the July issue of STN, Girardin said it is eyeing a GM diesel-hybrid to compete with Collins' gas-hybrid, the latter expected to be unveiled this summer. GM retained it's two-mode diesel hybrid technology originally slated for the Saturn VUE. This same technology could fuel GM's SUV business, which could in turn have strong implications for the school bus industry.

What to do when diesel engine cranks but does not start

This week, John Whelan posts on what to do when your bus cranks, but does not start.

...the first thing you want to look at is the power feed to the engine controls. In this case it's a Mercedes mbe 900 diesel engine in a Thomas C2 school bus. The first check is the fuse block since this powers up the ignition relays that operate the engine control modules.

Follow the link for a full description and photos. As always, thanks, John.

District Drops CNG, Says Diesel Will Save

Three years ago the Tucson Unified School District invested heavily in CNG-powered school buses, now the school district is change its tack with an $3 million diesel school bus order, the Arizona Daily Star reports:

... the CNG buses have drawn complaints from mechanics, who don't like the engines as much as they do diesel, and from drivers, who don't like the long trips to the airport fueling station ... but the biggest reason behind the switch is that diesel is cleaning up its act. With the federal government next year instituting stringent clean-air requirements, the new generation of diesel buses spits out only a fraction of the tiny pieces of dust, soot and fumes that its older kin does. Such emissions are now on par with clean-burning CNG-fueled buses.

Tom Mulligan, the district's transportation director, says given the improvements in diesel, the decision to switch makes financial sense. But Richard Kolodiej of NGVAmerica says that might not hold if diesel prices go back up, especially since districts can lock into natural gas prices for seven years. On the environmental side Patricia Monahan of the Union of Concerned Scientists says natural gas is still worth considering as a means to end petroleum independence and overall pollution reduction. But, she says:

"... I think school districts have a lot of hard decisions to make ...I wouldn't chastise the district for cutting costs, but there is an argument to still use natural gas."

So what's going on at your operation? Are you looking at CNG or propane? Is "green" diesel where it's at?

Also on the alt-fuel radar this week, IC Bus will get $10 Million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop and test the next generation plug-in hybrid school bus.

RIP: School Bus Artist Tom Kennedy

Tom Kennedy, the San Francisco-based artist/activist and father of Topsy Turvy, drowned over the weekend in San Francisco. Topsy Turvy (shown right) was a piece of school bus protest art designed to follow the 2008 presidential election and argue against what it's designers considered the upside down spending priorities of the United States. More modified vehicles and school buses at Kennedy's Web site. More videos and well-wishes here.

School Bus Mechanic on the Benefits of Diesel Mechanic Colleges

John Wheelan is one of the most fascinating school transportation bloggers on the web. His blog, logically titled School Bus Mechanic, offers the insights from his 32 years in heavy-duty automotive industry. In his most recent post he highlights the benefits of diesel mechanic colleges:

Back in 1977 I entered Diesel Mechanic School at the local college. This was the start of my 4 year apprenticeship as a Heavy Duty Mechanic. This first step was called a pre-apprenticeship which would last 6 months. I had never touched a diesel engine before and had some automotive/small engine experience from high school.

...if you're interested in getting into this trade I would go down to the nearest diesel mechanic college or technical school and ask some questions about the curriculum and cost ... I'm content now after working in this trade for 32 years and find myself telling a lot of stories about experiences and aha moments & wouldn't trade it for the world!

Well worth reading the whole story at his blog.

Plugging Into Hybrid Futures

In 2009, everyone is talking plug-in hybrids, but do we have the infrastructure ready? Cheryl Jensen at the Washington Times automotive section reflects on the theme after a major auto show, asking whether she's pulled a Rip Van Winkle and "missed the years of the necessary infrastructure being put in place - and awoke to an electrified future." She asks, "How would my mother-in-law recharge one from the 33rd floor of her New York City apartment?"

Pupil transporters don't often find themselves in an office on the 33rd floor, but they want hybrids and they may have to prep to get their yard ready for hybrids. In Napa Valley, Calif., Ralph Knight had to change his power breakers from 110 volts at 10 amps to 220 volts at 30 amps to enable a four-hour rather than eight-hour charge. But Knight already had the charging stations set up from his experiments in all-electric school buses. What would it take to get your yard up to snuff?

About That Hydrogen Powered Bus...

This week we look at a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy on the hydrogen-powered school bus. It seems operators looking for the next green thing are going to have to wait a bit. The technology is too expensive and not durable enough, the report notes:

"Given these issues [public health and fuel economy], school bus operators are increasingly receptive to new technologies, but their willingness to demonstrate and deploy advanced technologies and alternative fuels must be balanced with strict financial and operational considerations."

Greater availability may lead to greater viability for the alt-fuel, however. Read the whole report to Congress or a separate report that looks at progress and plans for the future [both PDFs].

In the meantime, one product, a kids' DVD on how IC Buses are made is nearly ready to ship. How'd They Build That School Bus? goes on sale later this month. A preview from our YouTube site below.

On STNOnline: No PowerStroke for Ford

Today on STNOnline, we report on how the conclusion of the dispute between Ford and Navistar means an end to Navistar's PowerStroke diesel engine in Ford Type-As. Some small bus builders say they're not worried about the announcement because they've already shifted towards gasoline engines or GM competition.

Prepping for Cold Weather

As a cold front swept much of the country, we've been hearing and writing a lot about what's been going on in garages, from one Atlanta district's "Cold Start"program, to early rising in Texas and what one Ohio district does when temperatures drop to 35 below. But what do you do to cope with the cold? What works for you? Plug-in heaters? Indoor storage? Engine pre-heaters?


Side note: if you're worried about biodiesel and the cold, tomorrow STN looks at what really happened to one Minnesota fleet earlier this month. Until then, enjoy one of our favorite recent finds on YouTube: The Hot Rod School Bus.