The latest issue of School Bus Fleet is now available, and it's our annual contractor edition! Plus, this edition is a dual issue on disaster preparedness! After you're done reading SBF on the front, flip it over to learn tips to navigate natural disasters.

In this issue, you'll find: 

• How a Life Change Changed Lives: Michael Brown, 2025 Contractor of the Year: How one unexpected "yes" turned Michael Brown, a former insurance agent, into a transportation trailblazer with a family-run, employee-owned bus empire from a single form and a whole lot of heart. 

• Fleets in Flux: Adapting to Changing Student Transportation Needs: School transportation is no longer just yellow buses. Explore how rising demand, shrinking driver pools, and more innovative tech are reshaping school bus fleets into multi-modal, student-first systems. 

• The State of School Bus Contracting [2025 Survey Results]: Why are school bus contractors facing a perfect storm of higher costs, uncertain funding, and shifting tech? Get the 2025 trends shaking up the yellow bus world here. 

• What To Do When Natural Disaster Strikes: Tips & Stories from School Transportation Teams: Do you know what to do when disaster strikes? Learn how real districts faced floods, fires, and hurricanes head-on, and the lifesaving lessons they learned to prepare for the next time. 

• Rethinking the Route: A Deep Dive into Alternative Transportation for School Districts: As school buses face limits, see how a growing network of alternative transportation providers is stepping in to meet the needs of students who fall outside the norm. 

• Key Outcomes from the 17th Annual NCST: Although the 2025 National Congress on School Transportation returned after a 10-year pause due to COVID, delegates brought passionate debate, major updates on alt transportation, and ground-breaking safety standards that will shape the future of student transportation nationwide. 

• 5 Questions: Blue Bird's John Wyskiel on Safety, Innovation, EVs, Partnerships & Plans: Join us for a conversation with Blue Bird's president and CEO as we talk all things EV leadership, fresh safety tech, and a long-term vision that honors the company's 100-year legacy. 

• Editor's Note: Helping Others through Natural Disaster

• NSTA Advocacy in Action: Annual NSTA Bus-In Produces Two Bill Introductions