List of school bus manufacturers
Introduction In most instances, school bus manufacturers are second stage manufacturers; however, a few school buses (typically those of ''Type D'' configuration) utilize a body and chassis produced by a single manufacturer.
School bus configurations The North American school bus industry produces buses in four different body configurations, listed below:School bus configurations(images of contemporary school bus models)Configuration Type A Type A school bus (Trans Tech/Ford) Type B Type B school bus (IC BE-Series) Type CType C school bus ''(Blue Bird Vision)'' Type DType D school bus ''(Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX CNG)'''''Passenger Capacity(typical)'''  ≥10typically 16-36  ≥10typically 30-36 ≥10typically 36-78  ≥10typically 36-90GVWR    Description*A bus body placed on a cutaway van chassis with a left-side driver's door*Single or dual rear wheels on drive axles. *A bus body mounted to either a stripped chassis or a cowled chassis*The entrance door is mounted behind the front wheels*In most versions (stripped-chassis models), the engine compartment is located partially inside the passenger compartment next to the driver and the hood is significantly shorter than that of conventional buses (similar to step vans)  *A bus body mounted to a cowled medium-duty truck chassis*In the past, the chassis was often supplied from another manufacturer, but more recently, the chassis manufacturer and the bus body manufacturer are the same company. *Although typically of cowled-chassis chassis design, a few Type C buses are of cutaway-cab design. *The entrance door is mounted behind the front wheels. *The engine is mounted forward of the windshield  *A bus body mounted to a separate chassis. *The entrance door mounted in front of the front wheels. *Single rear axle or (very rarely) tandem rear axles*The engine is mounted next to the driver inside the bus (front-engine/"FE"), in the rear of the bus behind the rearmost seats (rear-engine/"RE"), or in between the axles underneath the floor ("amidship" or "mid-engine")*The last mid-engine Type D school buses were manufactured when Crown Coach ceased operations in 1991.
Lists of manufacturers Current manufacturersCompany nameCurrent bus productionFoundedLocationNotes Full-line manufacturersBlue Bird Corporation1932Fort Valley, Georgia *Blue Bird is a publicly held company with Cerberus Capital Management as majority stakeholder*In a joint venture, Blue Bird markets Girardin-produced Type A buses under the Blue Bird name. *Blue Bird produces school buses fueled by diesel, gasoline, propane, and CNG, along with fully electric school buses. IC BusType A (formerly)Type B (formerly)Type CType D 2002*IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar International Corporation. *IC is a rebranding of AmTran, the successor of Ward Body Works.Lion Electric Company ('''La Compagnie Électrique Lion''')Type AType CType D2011Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, CanadaPreviously known as Lion Bus/Autobus Lion, Lion Electric Company renamed itself in 2017 as part of its focus on electric vehicle production. * Lion produces Type C (conventional) buses on Spartan Motors chassis. * Along with diesel-fuel buses (Lion 360), the company produces the first full-size electric school bus (eLion)* Lion bus bodies are produced with composite materials in place of steel to minimize corrosion.a Type D school bus was introduced and will go into production by 2019.Thomas Built Buses, Inc.1916High Point, North Carolina*Thomas is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (Freightliner)*The oldest surviving bus manufacturer in the United States, Thomas was founded in 1916 as the Perley A. Thomas Car Works.Type A-only manufacturersCollins Bus CorporationType A1967Hutchinson, Kansas*Collins Bus Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the REV Group (formerly Allied Specialty Vehicles). *Collins acquired '''Corbeil''' and '''Mid Bus''' in the late 2000s, marketing brand-engineered Collins buses in specific regions. *In 2016, the Corbeil and Mid Bus brands were replaced entirely by Collins-brand vehicles. *Collins offers electric busses on a MOTIV electrification on a Ford E-450 chassis. *Buses sold at former Starcraft Bus dealerships are rebranded as '''Magellan''' as of 2021.Endera MotorsType A2019Ottawa, Ohio* Endera Motors purchased Titan Bus, LLC in April 2021.Micro Bird (Girardin)Type A1935Drummondville, Quebec, Canada*Micro Bird produces Type A school buses in a joint venture of Girardin Minibus and Blue Bird known as '''Micro Bird, Inc.'''*Along with small-bus production, Micro Bird is also the Canadian distributor of Blue Bird full-size buses.Trans TechType A2007Warwick, New York*Trans Tech is a division of '''Transportation Collaborative, Inc'''*Trans Tech is the school bus manufacturer to produce a fully electric school bus (eTrans, based on the Smith Electric Newton)Van-Con, Inc.Type AType B1973Middlesex, New Jersey* Van-Con, Inc. is New Jersey's only school bus manufacturer. * Van-Con, Inc produces 16, 25, 30 passenger and wheelchair accessible school buses. * All vehicles produced on Chevrolet cutaway van chassis.Type A&D-only manufacturersGreenPower Motor CompanyType D2007Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Corporate)Porterville, California (Assembly)*GreenPower Synapse 72 - introduced in early 2017 - is a zero-emission Type D school bus*GreenPower exclusively builds all-electric vehiclesRecently defunct manufacturers (1980–present)Company nameFoundationCeased productionLocationNotesFull-line manufacturers AmTran  (American Transportation Corporation)19802002*Produced Type A, C, and D buses. *Marketed school buses under the Ward name from 1980 to 1992 (commercial buses adopted AmTran name in 1980. )*Re-branded as International, then IC in 2003 after being purchased outright by Navistar International in 1995.Carpenter Industries, Inc.19192001*Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. *Carpenter was shut down in May 2001 by parent company Spartan Motors. Crown By Carpenter19961999Richmond, Indiana*Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. *Crown by Carpenter was a 1996-99 re-branding of Carpenter using the rights from the purchase of the Crown Coach name. *The Crown name was dropped from Carpenter for the 2000 model year by Spartan Motors. Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil (Corbeil)19852007St-Lin-Laurentides, Quebec, Canada*Produced Type A, C, and D buses. *Type C and D full-size buses sold in Canada only. *Assets acquired by Collins Industries in 2007*Exists today in the United States as Collins subsidiary Corbeil Bus Corporation.Superior Coach Company1925*1982*1985Lima, Ohio*Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. *Superior employees created Mid Bus in 1981. *Full-size bus production ended after 1985 (design later used by '''New Bus, Inc.''').Ward Body Works19331980*Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. *Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1980; re-organized as American Transportation Corporation (AmTran) in 1981. *Successor AmTran continued use of Ward brand name (on school buses) until 1992.Wayne Corporation 18371992*Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. *Wayne underwent several changes of ownership before ending up as Richmond Transportation Corporation from 1985 to 1992. *Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (the successor to Wayne Corporation) was a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation and ceased operations in 1995.Wayne Wheeled Vehicles19921995Marysville, Ohio*Produced Type A, C, and D buses. *Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (the successor to Wayne Corporation) was a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation. *Continued production of Wayne Corporation products.Type A-only manufacturers Coach and Equipment ManufacturingPenn Yan, New York*A manufacturer of van conversions to Type A school buses from the early 1970s to the mid-1990sLiberty BusLima, Ohio*Produced a small number of Type A school buses in early 2000s.Mid Bus Corporation19812008*Created by employees of Superior Coach Company to continue production of Type A school buses. *Acquired by Collins Bus Corporation in 1998. *Since 2008, Mid Bus products are re-badged Collins models.Starcraft Bus19972020Goshen, Indiana*Starcraft Bus is a division of Forest River, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company. *No longer producing school busesU.S. Bus Corporation19952007*Suffern, New York*Producer of Type A buses in 1990s and early 2000s.Type C/D-only manufacturers Crown Coach Corporation19041991*Produced Type D buses*Subsidiary of GE Railcar from 1987 to 1991. *Rights to the Crown name were purchased in May 1991 by Carpenter Body Works.Gillig Corporation18901993Hayward, California*Produced Type C and D buses. *Ended school bus production in 1993; still produces mass-transit buses.New Bus, Inc.19881990Chickasha, Oklahoma*Produced a small number of Type C and Type D buses in the late 1980s. *Type C buses were continuation of Superior production.TAM-USA19911991*TAM-USA was an importer of Yugoslavian-built TAM buses*A small number of school bus bodies (Type D) were manufactured in Yugoslavia and fitted with American drivetrain components in California.Historical manufacturers (before 1980)Company nameCeased productionLocationNotesHackney Brothers Body Companyc. 1966Wilson, North Carolina*Produced Type C buses on Ford chassis.Kenworth-Pacific1957Renton, Washington*Produced Type D buses. *Kenworth subsequently sold their bus tooling and equipment to Gillig.Northern Coach*Wisconsin*Produced a small number of "Northern-Air" Type C buses in the late 1970s.Oneida Products Corporation1960*From 1952 to 1960, Oneida was owned by professional car manufacturer Henney Motor Company. *Oneida was purchased in 1960 by Marmon-Herrington.Perley A. Thomas Car Works1972High Point, North Carolina*Produced Type C and D buses; best known for streetcar production. *Perley A. Thomas Car Works was re-organized into Thomas Built Buses in 1972.Union City Body Company1957Union City, Indiana*Produced Type C buses. *Union City is now a supplier of bodies for UPS.
See also *List of buses
References