Many people head to lunch at noon every day, out of habit mostly. Is there an advantage to eating at noon? Not really. Restaurants are more crowded, and the waiters and cooks are busier and thus more prone to mistakes.

So why go at noon? Unless your employer dictates that your lunch starts at noon, you’d probably be better served by eating earlier or later. You could avoid the crowds, get better service and eat less hastily prepared food.

What’s this got to do with pupil transportation? A lot, actually. Many of you are now taking delivery of new buses for the coming school year. You paid top dollar for these buses because you ordered them for delivery during the manufacturer’s peak busy season. And, like last year and the year before, you’ll probably complain that the buses are not perfect.

Like many of your colleagues, you’re taking your lunch at noon, or in pupil transportation terms, ordering your buses for summer delivery. That places a lot of stress on the OEMs, who have to ramp up production by hiring seasonal workers, and their distributors, who have to process and deliver a high volume of buses to their customers in a short time-frame.

Some high-level advice
Wouldn’t it make more sense to order your buses for off-peak delivery? The answer is generally yes, according to three gentlemen who know a little something about bus manufacturing — Jeff Bust, president/CEO of Blue Bird Corp.; Michael Cancelliere, vice president and general manager of IC Corp.; and John O’Leary, president/CEO of Thomas Built Buses.

Bust says seasonality is “one of the most challenging market attributes facing school bus manufacturers.” To help level demand, he says, manufacturers often will incentivize off-peak delivery by offering discounts to distributors and customers.

Bust points out, however, that an actual leveling of demand would reduce the financial benefits currently enjoyed by those who can take delivery outside of peak season. “Like most things, the greater benefit to an end-user falls to those who can be more flexible and differentiate themselves most from the norm,” he says.

Cancelliere says the availability of “fresh” inventory is a key benefit of spreading orders and deliveries. “The current ordering and production cycle can lead to new buses sitting at an assembly plant or on a dealer lot for several months, which can lead to damaging UV exposure of rubber components, drained batteries and aging from general lack of use,” he says.

O’Leary believes more off-peak deliveries would also improve quality control. “Anytime you introduce big seasonal spikes, you are typically bringing on new workers, who are learning on the job,” he explains. “You are also stressing the parts suppliers, and depending on how well they react, introducing a higher likelihood of parts shortages and their own quality issues as they bring on new people.”

A bus for all seasons
The idea of leveling demand for school bus production is not a new one. School bus manufacturers and their suppliers have been pushing for more off-peak deliveries for a long time. Taking advantage of this procurement strategy, however, is becoming increasingly important as prices for school buses rise.

School districts can’t control when they receive state funding, making it difficult for them to be flexible with bus procurement. Contractors often have greater latitude to take delivery in the off-season.

Each group, however, should look at the potential benefits of going against the grain and take a proactive stance in making it happen.