With an aging school bus fleet, Pea Ridge School bus superintendent Cameron McNabb was faced with difficult decisions.
"Right now, we own 24 buses, two of which you can discount because one has a bad motor and the other no longer has the capacity for what we do. The average age of that fleet is 14 years with the oldest being 23 years old and the newest two years old," McNabb told School Board members recently. "If you take out the newest five buses, that average goes up to 16 years."
McNabb explained that the buses run 15 regular routes, three special education routes with two running double and one running three routes for 19 total routes. "That's quite a few miles a day... safety wise, we continue to maintain the brakes, steering, structure on them. We don't have a lot of smooth roads. They're getting tired... at least three need to come off the road."
McNabb introduced Tim Toolan, Midwest Bus Sales out of Van Buren, Ark., who presented an option of a lease purchase plan. He said an average cost of a bus is $85,000 to $95,000. "That outlay is pretty high for a district," Toolan said. "With the lease purchase, you can make payments for three to five years and buy multiple buses."
After questioning McNabb and Toolan and discussing the options, the board agreed to the lease purchase paying $121,171 for three year purchasing four buses -- three regular buses and one special ed bus.
Toolan explained that the newer buses would be economical because they have better fuel economy and would greatly reduce engine and transmission maintenance. "It makes it a lot easier to budget and know what you'll spend on fuel or maintenance," he said.
McNabb said the old buses are getting six to seven miles per gallon and the new buses would get 10 mpg.
"When you start rotating your fleet more quickly," Toolan said, "a 5-year-old bus is worth 45 percent of what you paid for it as trade in value."
McNabb said that two 1991 buses would be retired and sold for scrap metal.
General News on 03/18/2015