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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4544 Posts |
 Posted - 04/04/2017 : 11:00:02 AM
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20 years old does not a bad bus make. 300,000 miles on a 3800 did not a bad bus make. I had the pleasure of running some to between 350-400K. It was called upkeep. (Today's buses won't do that though)
Pumping the air brakes eh? Neato. I see in a photo that it did have automatic slacks on it. Maybe they magically adjusted themselves while it was waiting in the water?
Crap like this and the Chatanooga crash would be why I'm installing Synovia GPS next week during spring break. |
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RonF
Top Member
867 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2017 : 11:18:54 AM
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| We have the same inspection criteria in Georgia that Florida uses. Monthly or 20 working days. In fact our inspection manuals look almost identical. We here in my county run buses 20 years old and older and are safe. They meet all requirements in 49 CFR and the various FMVS's. |
US Army retired CMBT |
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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2017 : 2:29:12 PM
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| Not everyone keeps buses up like you guys though. It take diligence to keep a 20 year old anything going. I may be thinking wrong here. I would like to have the "powers that be" realize that we need funding for new units on a regular basis. |
Bryan |
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RonF
Top Member
867 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2017 : 04:25:31 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bwest
Not everyone keeps buses up like you guys though. It take diligence to keep a 20 year old anything going. I may be thinking wrong here. I would like to have the "powers that be" realize that we need funding for new units on a regular basis.
Your right, it's not easy or cheap keeping these old things running. I am currently fighting for a bus replacement program right now. The county just past a 10 year $150 Mil esplost to build schools, a new trans and maint complex and buying 10 buses a year.
We shall see. |
US Army retired CMBT |
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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2017 : 05:22:06 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by RonF
quote:
Originally posted by bwest
Not everyone keeps buses up like you guys though. It take diligence to keep a 20 year old anything going. I may be thinking wrong here. I would like to have the "powers that be" realize that we need funding for new units on a regular basis.
Your right, it's not easy or cheap keeping these old things running. I am currently fighting for a bus replacement program right now. The county just past a 10 year $150 Mil esplost to build schools, a new trans and maint complex and buying 10 buses a year.
We shall see.
Score!! Congratulations!! |
Bryan |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4544 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2017 : 06:12:14 AM
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It was a lot easier to keep a bus for 20 years/400,000 miles when those buses were built in the 80s or early 90s and had Bird or Thomas bodies on them. Seems like 1997 or so was the start of the decline in quality and ability to keep them that long.
I still find early 80s Carpenter buses in service from time to time. Hats off to the poor suckers that have to keep those piles of scrap metal roadworthy. |
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dferrell
Senior Member
102 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2017 : 3:36:41 PM
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| Here in California, it's not unusual to see even 30 year old buses. We have 3 buses over 25 years old. There is nothing wrong with any of them. They have current inspections and they go on routes regularly. We just don't have the rust problems here that a lot of you have to deal with. I also know that most everyone uses transit buses here and I think they have a little longer life expectancy. |
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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2017 : 07:24:31 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by dferrell
Here in California, it's not unusual to see even 30 year old buses. We have 3 buses over 25 years old. There is nothing wrong with any of them. They have current inspections and they go on routes regularly. We just don't have the rust problems here that a lot of you have to deal with. I also know that most everyone uses transit buses here and I think they have a little longer life expectancy.
Roads are probably better too. I know a transit cannot last on the old roads I run on.
I commend you all in California! To put up with your out of control government and then to be able to keep antique buses running in top condition is truly a herculean act! |
Bryan |
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dferrell
Senior Member
102 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2017 : 09:31:15 AM
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| Keeping up with the buses is easy compared to dealing with the state government. This state has lost it's mind! |
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International-9.0
Advanced Member
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2017 : 5:23:09 PM
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| We are still running a 1984 BB International with 9.0 liter (engine has been replaced) and it still runs decent. We also have a 1990 Ward GMC with the 8.2 (yuck!). Our other older bus is a 1990 Ford Chassis with bullet proof 6.6 Brazilian engine. The body is a 1999 Crown as it had the body replaced. The Crown and BB are in pretty good shape. The Ward has not held up well and has bad rust. The spent 5k to replace the floor in it a few years ago (WHY? Don't ask...). We are a private college and the buses are mainly used for campus event shuttling and for transporting the kids to the elementary school from one parking lot to the location of the school. We don't take good care of them and they still keep going somehow... |
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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2017 : 05:26:42 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by International-9.0
We are still running a 1984 BB International with 9.0 liter (engine has been replaced) and it still runs decent. We also have a 1990 Ward GMC with the 8.2 (yuck!). Our other older bus is a 1990 Ford Chassis with bullet proof 6.6 Brazilian engine. The body is a 1999 Crown as it had the body replaced. The Crown and BB are in pretty good shape. The Ward has not held up well and has bad rust. The spent 5k to replace the floor in it a few years ago (WHY? Don't ask...). We are a private college and the buses are mainly used for campus event shuttling and for transporting the kids to the elementary school from one parking lot to the location of the school. We don't take good care of them and they still keep going somehow...
Thing is, if you're just mainly shuttling, you'd be better off buying a 12 to 15 year old bus (from an area less prone to rust) every 5 or 6 years than spend 5 grand on a floor. I have decent buses that are 16-17 years old that only garner 2 to 2.5 grand on trade. Good buses but as many miles as we run I just don't need that trouble out there running up and down the road. |
Bryan |
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International-9.0
Advanced Member
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2017 : 6:15:59 PM
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| I think it has something to do with non-profit mentality and accounting. A few years ago they wanted to spend $30,000 on a 1977 Ford bucket truck that was falling to pieces. They could have bought a much newer and better one from Georgia Power for less than that. Thankfully, they didn't do that. They really will spend 20k on a piece of junk that's only worth $1,000. It's not that they think they are getting a better deal, but it just seems to be they really dislike purchasing anything. It's ok to blow millions of dollars on repair, but whatever you do...don't buy anything...even used! If you do buy something, make sure it's 20 years old and has 300,000 miles on it and needs a crap ton of repairs. Like I said...just a nonprofit mentality. |
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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2017 : 05:19:37 AM
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| That's not good. You need a leader who thinks a little more broadly. Our super here thinks outside the box constantly. Sometimes it's to a fault. But most days it's awesome! We drove 6 hours one way to buy a set of 72 foot, 5 year old bleachers. New they are like 50 grand. We paid $1,500. Myself, head custodian and our two boys and the super removed them from the building then stored them here at school until summer and then installed them. We had to cut 2.5 ft off of them but they work flawlessly! That's our biggest project but we do stuff like that all the time. Keeps us all on our toes. |
Bryan |
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International-9.0
Advanced Member
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2017 : 11:18:39 AM
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Bryan, did you get my email through the forum? It was kind of clunky to use and not sure if it went through to your current email (as it's not listed). Just wanted to find out if that feature is working here.
Jonathan |
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Humm...........
