Private Equity Firm to Acquire Safe Fleet
Oak Hill Capital Partners will be the new owner of Safe Fleet, whose brands provide a variety of equipment for school buses.
Safe Fleet’s brands provide a variety of school bus equipment, including stop arms, crossing arms, and video surveillance systems.
Safe Fleet’s brands provide a variety of school bus equipment, including stop arms, crossing arms, and video surveillance systems.
BELTON, Mo. — Safe Fleet Holdings LLC has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the companies announced on Tuesday.
Oak Hill, a private equity firm based in New York City, will acquire Safe Fleet from its current owner, The Sterling Group. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
Safe Fleet provides a variety of equipment for school buses, including video surveillance systems, stop arms, crossing arms, and roof hatches. The company’s brands include Seon, Specialty Manufacturing, and Transpec.
“We have tremendous respect for what Safe Fleet has accomplished. The company has built a unique and growing portfolio of market-leading safety and productivity solutions,” said Brian Cherry, a partner at Oak Hill. “We are excited to partner with Safe Fleet to support the company through its next phase of development, as it continues to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
Gary Rosenthal, a partner at Sterling and chairman of Safe Fleet’s board of directors, said that Safe Fleet has grown “from two small component suppliers to a leader in safety solutions for fleet vehicles.”
John Knox, president and CEO of Safe Fleet, added, “We believe our new partnership with Oak Hill, a firm that shares our culture of collaborative engagement and continuous improvement, will even further accelerate Safe Fleet’s growth trajectory as a highly differentiated safety and productivity solutions platform.”
More Management
5 Questions: How CharterUP Brought a Marketplace to Student Transportation
What does it take to bring a transportation marketplace into K-12? Hear firsthand what CharterUP has learned about the unique needs of schools and bus operators.
Read More →
EverDriven Expands TripCentral Transportation Management Platform to All Partner Districts
The platform provides school districts with real-time trip tracking, student transportation scheduling tools, and pickup and drop-off management capabilities.
Read More →
6 School Transportation Trends to Watch: 2026 District Survey Results
School bus buying is up, fuel choices are shifting, and driver shortages persist. This and more in the latest K-12 public school survey, plus the largest fleets in the U.S.
Read More →
The 100 Largest School Bus Fleets in America: 2026 Rankings
Which public K-12 school districts are the largest in the nation in terms of bus fleet size? Here are the new standings of the top 100 district fleets.
Read More →
EverDriven Launches Route Consolidation Calculator to Estimate Diesel Savings
As diesel prices hit record highs, the largest alternative transportation provider says a 10% route consolidation could save a 120-route district more than $78,000 a year in fuel alone.
Read More →
Zum Secures Continued Financing Support for School Bus Expansion
Generate Private Credit has financed approximately $75 million in school bus deployments across three states, supporting more than 500 buses as Zum expands across the county.
Read More →
Beyond Discipline: A Different Approach to Student Behavior on the Bus
After implementing a dean of students program in Oregon, North Clackamas is seeing positive improvements. Here’s how it worked. The Route is brought to you by IC Bus.
Read More →
A Dean of Transportation's Different Approach to Student Behavior on the School Bus
After implementing a dean of students program in Oregon, North Clackamas is seeing positive improvements on the bus. Here’s how it worked.
Read More →
Inside NAPT ACTS 2026: Highlights from Louisville
From federal updates and student behavior strategies to new school bus technology and industry awards, see highlights from NAPT ACTS 2026 in Louisville.
Read More →
Meet the 2026 School Bus Driver Hero Winner: Annette Brown
We caught up with Wa-Nee Community Schools' Annette Brown on site at SBFX, where she was named the 2026 School Bus Driver Hero Award winner. Hear about her reaction, what she loves most about being a school bus driver, and more!
Read More →