Bus Reports
Thomas Built Buses regularly publishes the BUS REPORT to provide important information and keep you informed.
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March 2016
Thomas Built Buses Celebrates 100 Years – Five Ways to Celebrate With Us
One hundred years ago, Perley A. Thomas gave Thomas Built Buses its start when he founded the Perley A. Thomas Car Works, a streetcar company, in 1916. Since then, Thomas Built Buses has been a leader in the school bus industry providing innovations, product features and designs that not only make school buses even more durable, safe, smart and efficient, but also make Thomas Built buses belove...
Total Cost of Ownership Pro Tip: Consider Alternative Fuels
Next to the capital cost of a school bus, fleets spend most of their budget on fueling costs. When upgrading your fleet, consider an alternative fuel such as propane or compressed natural gas. The fuel savings alone will decrease your total cost of ownership, in addition to lowering maintenance costs and gaining the satisfaction of running a cleaner vehicle.
September 2015
Thomas Built Buses Adds SmartTrac™ Electronic Stability Control And Other Innovations To School Buses
Thomas Built Buses has teamed up with Meritor WABCO to offer new factory-installed SmartTrac™ electronic stability control (ESC) on its diesel and compressed natural gas-fueled Saf-T-Liner® C2 school buses. SmartTrac ESC is a vehicle safety system that intervenes automatically when it senses instability that could lead to a rollover or loss of bus control.
“When faced with rollovers and...
Total Cost of Ownership Pro Tip: Start Route Optimization Early
Route optimization is an essential part of every school year. But did you know it can save you quite a bit of money? By truly optimizing your routes, you can determine the shortest, fastest and safest routes for your students and buses. And, by consolidating bus stops and reducing mileage, you may potentially require fewer buses, which means less fuel and lower maintenance costs. If you are able to optimize your routes enough to decrease the number of buses in use, be sure to run the buses with the lowest total cost of ownership to keep your fuel and maintenance costs even lower.
June 2015
Do You Have A Total Cost Reduction Plan?
As summer approaches, it’s the perfect time to begin developing a total cost reduction plan. Today, more and more transportation departments are focusing on Total Cost of Ownership, which includes initial purchase, fuel costs, maintenance, repairs and replacement parts. To learn more about TCO, watch this short animation.
The first step in creating a total cost reduction...
Total Cost of Ownership Pro Tip: Inspect Your Buses and Save Money
As the school year comes to an end, be sure to perform a thorough bus inspection. Inspect the entire bus and note any necessary repairs or replacement parts needed.
Proactively maintaining worn parts will save you money down the road and keep your buses out of the shop longer when the school year starts next fall.
March 2015
Decrease Downtime With Thomas Built Platinum Support
Thomas Built Buses has introduced a comprehensive new service program that focuses on getting your buses out of the shop and back out on the road. Known as Platinum Support, this new program ensures that certified dealers will provide fast turn-around on service and repairs, so you can save time and lower your overall service costs.
Each Platinum Support dealer undergoes rigorous trainin...
Total cost of ownership pro tip: Let our buses take your technicians to school.
A properly-maintained bus is safer, lasts longer and saves you money on every mile it travels. It’s one of the key factors to lowering the Total Cost of Ownership for each bus in your fleet.
So how do you make sure your in-house maintenance team is doing things right? Let Thomas Built educate them. At the Thomas Built Buses Technician Institute we can equip your technicians with the skills needed to keep your fleet running more efficiently. They’ll get hands-on training and up to 28 credit hours in less than a week! Register by April 11 to participate in our May session.