Virginia Pupil Transportation Official Receives National Recognition

Assistant Transportation Director, Kevin Roye, was nationally recognized in the October 2017 School Transportation News magazine for his outstanding work at Henrico County Public Schools. Out of 127 nominations, Roye was among 11 individuals named as “Rising Superstars” in pupil transportation. Henrico County’s transportation department operates more than 600 buses with 700 employees and transports … Continued

Thomas Built Debuts First C2 School Bus With Detroit DD5 Engine

ATLANTA — Thomas Built Buses’ first Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus equipped with the new Detroit DD5 diesel engine went on display at the North American Commercial Vehicle show here on Monday. The Detroit DD5 medium-duty engine is expected to boost fuel economy, reliability, and serviceability while lowering cost of ownership, according to the manufacturer. It features top-load … Continued

Allison Transmission 7-Year Warranty Program Extended

Thomas Built Buses will again offer as standard equipment the 7-Year Extended Warranty Coverage on certain Allison transmissions (2300 PTS, 2350 PTS, 2500 PTS, and 2550 PTS). The coverage comes standard at no additional cost to customers and is available on units manufactured from January 2018 to December 2018. Coverage is already available on units … Continued

Thomas Built Buses Adds Manager of Powertrain and Technology Sales

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Thomas Built Buses has named Kim Alston its new manager of powertrain and technology sales, effective Sept. 18. In her new role, Alston will work with dealers and customers to determine the best powertrain offerings for fleets. Examples include Cummins engines, Detroit engines, Allison transmissions, and features within Thomas Built’s BusWise Technologies suite. “Kim’s role … Continued

Daimler Donates $1 Million to Texas Harvey Relief

Daimler AG’s U.S.-based subsidiaries—Mercedes-Benz USA, Mercedes-Benz US International, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and Daimler Trucks North America — have announced a joint support effort for the population in southern U.S. states affected by Hurricane Harvey. The companies are donating $1 million in total to the distressed population coping with the storm’s catastrophic impact. The donation will be sent … Continued

Lynchburg City Schools Welcomes New Transportation Director

New school years are always accompanied by new faces, but Lynchburg City Schools didn’t just welcome students this year. Russell Stone was hired on as the locality’s Transportation Director over the summer. While he may be a fresh face to Lynchburg City, he’s quite familiar with the pupil transportation industry. Stone started driving a school … Continued

Installation of Parking Brake Interlock on Thomas Buses Operating in Virginia Complete

This past spring, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) discovered approximately 4,000 public school buses operating in Virginia lacked the parking brake interlock feature as required by state specifications. The feature prevents accidental release of the parking brake. Upon becoming aware of the situation, Sonny Merryman Inc. took immediate action to bring all affected Thomas … Continued

Important Information Regarding Parking Brake Interlock

Check here for the latest updates regarding the Parking Brake Interlock feature on Thomas school buses. UPDATE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 17 AT 4:08 PM Sonny Merryman Inc. has completed installation of the parking brake interlock feature on all Thomas buses operating in Virginia. VDOE is continuing to track the brake interlock installation progress of all other manufacturer’s … Continued

Jeff Allen Promoted to DTNA Senior Vice President of Production, Quality, and Specialty Vehicles

On Tuesday, May 9, Daimler Trucks North America appointed two new members to its Operating Committee, Jeff Allen and Stefan Kurschner. Allen is currently vice president of operations at Detroit Diesel Corporation in Redford, Mich. He will head the company’s production, quality and specialty vehicles business units starting Aug. 1, 2017. Allen’s expertise at Daimler … Continued