Photo above: The sales team at Central States serves school bus operators in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois.

Central States Bus Sales Inc.

St. Louis

When they say “Central States,” they aren’t kidding.

Central States Bus Sales Inc. is the Blue Bird distributor for Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois — a major piece of the nation’s Heartland.

The dealership is now Blue Bird’s largest, having grown considerably from its origin in 1975. Steve Rustman launched the company as both a school bus contractor and a Blue Bird dealer, with its initial sales area consisting of northeastern Missouri. The two divisions were dubbed Rustman Bus Company and Rustman Bus Sales.

After graduating from college in 1977, Gary Deeken joined Rustman as a bus salesman and assistant contract manager. By 1985, the contract fleet had grown to 1,200 buses, and the Blue Bird sales area covered the northern two-thirds of Missouri and the southern half of Illinois.

That same year, Rustman sold the contract fleet to Ryder Student Transportation (which became First Student in 1999), leaving the company as a standalone bus dealer. Ryder also acquired the right to use the name Rustman, so the dealership was rechristened Central States Bus Sales Inc.

Deeken purchased the company over time from Rustman, finalizing the deal in 1992.

Noble mission
Today, Central States has four sales, service and parts warehouse locations that serve the five states in its territory, with its headquarters positioned in suburban St. Louis. The company has a team of 80 employees.

In addition to Blue Bird school buses, Central States is a distributor for a variety of other manufacturers that offer paratransit and special-needs vehicles, shuttle and transit buses, and coaches.

Deeken notes the company’s mission statement, which is “To provide transportation solutions that enrich the lives of people.”

“We try to consider the needs of the people who are being served by the products we provide,” he explains. “Whether it’s children going to and from school, disabled adults being transported to a sheltered workshop or senior citizens going for a doctor’s visit, their lives are enriched because our customers provide these services, and we try to do everything we can to assist our customers in those noble efforts.”

Key features
When it comes to Blue Bird buses, Deeken says that built-in safety features are among the key attractions, particularly in the areas of visibility, structural integrity and crashworthiness. Some specific features he cites are the front-end line of sight and the Safety View Vision Panel on the Vision product, the front-end visibility of the All American and the one-piece body bows and riveted construction that Blue Bird utilizes in building its buses.

Central States focuses on providing what Deeken calls “The Whole Package,” by which he means meeting customers’ varying needs — safety features, reliability, durability, service and service support, parts support, financing, training, accessory equipment and more.

“Each customer has their own set of individual needs that are the top priority to them,” Deeken says. “We have to work hard to identify those needs and provide solutions that meet them.”

While some customers say that their priority is the lowest price, Deeken says that what they really want is the best value for the money they spend. “And with the regulations that have dramatically increased the cost of a school bus, almost $4-per-gallon diesel fuel and all the other services that are now expected of school transportation providers, it is sometimes difficult to keep our customers focused on value rather than the lowest price,” he says.

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Leonard Bus Sales' Deposit, N.Y., headquarters is one of the IC dealer's four full-service facilities.

Leonard Bus Sales

Deposit, N.Y.

Leonard Bus Sales has come a long way in its 43 years. When Gerald and Helen Leonard founded the company in Hancock, N.Y., in 1965, they began serving 13 counties in the eastern part of the state.

The IC Bus dealer, now based in nearby Deposit, has since grown to cover 54 counties. And in addition to the Deposit headquarters, Leonard Bus Sales has full-service facilities in Mechanicville, Rome and Bergen, N.Y.

The company, which employs about 130 personnel statewide, is also an authorized distributor for Girardin Minibus, Elkhart Coach and Federal Coach.

Mike Leonard, son of Gerald and Helen, starting working full time for the family business in 1973. Mike started in the shop and soon began making sales calls. He now serves as president of the company.

High-profile praise
In March, Leonard Bus Sales was presented with the Tom Cellitti IC Bus 2007 North American Dealer of the Year Award at the OEM’s annual dealer meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

Among the accomplishments that helped Leonard Bus Sales earn the award is the facilitation of a statewide customer advisory panel. The project was launched to gather end-user feedback and maintain open communication with customers.

Ed Joyce, vice president of operations for Leonard Bus Sales, says that another company highlight is its customer training program, which provided hands-on service instruction for more than 400 technicians last year. The dealership also supports the New York Association for Pupil Transportation and other transportation groups in the state.

Joyce also notes that Leonard Bus Sales has the leading school bus market share in New York state. He says that this is due in large part to the company’s “superior customer service,” which includes comprehensive parts distribution and mobile service capabilities. The company operates four parts delivery trucks and six mobile maintenance vehicles to assist customers across its territory.

Customer satisfaction
School bus buyers’ top priorities are familiar themes, according to Joyce: safety, reliability, cost of operation and support services after delivery.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in new technologies among Leonard Bus Sales’ customers. The International AWARE Vehicle Intelligence system, which provides global positioning and performance monitoring, is a popular option.

Also drawing increased attention is hybrid-electric technology. IC Bus and hybrid drivetrain maker Enova Systems launched the nation’s first plug-in hybrid school bus in 2006.

Joyce notes that the technical complexity of school buses continues to grow rapidly, particularly with the advent of computer diagnostics and sophisticated emissions controls. “As such, we have focused on continuous product improvements, outstanding support services and comprehensive customer training to ensure that operators and maintainers are well equipped and prepared to perform their daily functions,” he says.

Regarding customers’ attraction to IC Bus, Joyce says that they recognize the safety and operational innovations and the depth and breadth of resources that accompany a purchase of the OEM’s buses. He says that these resources begin with engineering and product development and continue through specification development and ordering services, the manufacturing process, pre-delivery preparation and inspection, delivery, and one-stop technical services throughout the life of the vehicle.

“Collectively, we have an unparalleled support system that ultimately results in improved driver and vehicle performance, streamlined maintenance and, most importantly, maximum passenger protection,” Joyce says.

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From its Annapolis headquarters, American serves Thomas Built Buses customers in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.

American Bus Sales & Service

Annapolis, Md.

The staff and managers at American Bus Sales & Service know Thomas Built Buses.

Many of them began their relationship with the OEM’s school buses in the early 1980s. That includes President Steve Leonard, who has been representing Thomas Built for more than 25 years.

The Annapolis, Md.-based dealership itself was formed more recently, in 1994. The company serves school bus operations in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.

Dealership details
American Bus Sales & Service is a division of American Truck & Bus Inc. Besides offering and servicing Thomas Built vehicles, the dealership represents Freightliner Sprinter vans and a complete line of commercial buses.

American spent a brief period representing Freightliner trucks but, as Leonard acknowledges, soon realized its expertise was in the bus business.

American currently operates from a facility that was acquired in 1998 in a purchase that Leonard describes as “incredible.” At the time, American had been leasing a 3/4-acre dirt lot facility with a small, one-bay shop with a few offices. Then the company secured a six-acre facility with 10 service bays. The building includes two extra office suites that American rents to supplement paying expenses.

“It’s amazing that we were able to purchase this great facility, and our portion of the mortgage was less than we paid to rent the old dirt lot,” Leonard says. “My faith leads me to believe that there was more than luck involved with the purchase and move to this location.”

Awarding-winning service
In October, American Bus Sales & Service was named the 2007 Dealer of the Year by Thomas Built Buses. The award recognizes outstanding performance in customer satisfaction, customer service and support, financial performance and overall relationship with the OEM. Thomas Built President and CEO John O’Leary presented the award at the company’s annual dealer meeting in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

“We had a good 2007, and we sold a lot of buses,” Leonard says, but he’s quick to point out the strength of the OEM’s distributor network.

The award “could go to any one of the top dealerships for Thomas Built Buses, because they all do an outstanding job serving the school bus industry,” Leonard says. “We appreciate the recognition and we understand there is a continuous responsibility for our company to improve itself.”

In 2005 and 2006, American was named Thomas Built’s Northeast Regional Dealer of the Year. It also earned the national Dealer of the Year award in 1997.

Meeting needs
When resources permit, American Bus Sales & Service can provide pickup and delivery of buses for warranty work, and the company also operates a service truck for on-site repairs.

Leonard says that a top priority for customers is reliability. Since many school bus operations are being challenged with serving increased hours of operation while having fewer spare buses available, preventing unscheduled downtime is critical.

American’s customers have been including more high-tech options in their school bus orders, from surveillance systems to GPS to black-box event recorders. Leonard notes that in addition to the value that these items bring, they increase the expense of a school bus and require more training and additional maintenance.

“The job of scheduling, driving and maintaining a school bus has become increasingly complicated over the years,” Leonard says.