KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thomas Built Buses gave the pupil transportation industry its first glimpse of the new Detroit DD5 engine at the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) Summit here on Tuesday.

The DD5 diesel engine is equipped with Detroit Connect Virtual Technician. The DD5 is the first of two new medium-duty engines, with the Detroit DD8 planned to follow. The engine platform was first announced in October 2014.

“The Detroit DD5 medium-duty engine, as well as the upcoming Detroit DD8 engine, will provide exceptional fuel efficiency, power, proven performance, and reliability as well as the lowest total cost of ownership,” said Caley Edgerly, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses.

The global medium-duty engine platform that the DD5 is based on uses technology such as variable exhaust cam phasing, which allows additional heat to the exhaust stream. According to Thomas Built Buses, this enables efficient operation of the aftertreatment system in low speed stop-and-go operations like school buses.

“We are proud to be able to bring this level of technology and innovation to the pupil transportation industry and to provide a new solution for our customers who know and love diesel,” Edgerly said.

The DD5 and DD8 engines offer a B10 life of 400,000 miles. According to Thomas Built Buses, they also come with top load oil and fuel filters for easier serviceability, and they have 45,000-mile oil and fuel filter change intervals for short-haul applications. Both engines meet 2017 greenhouse gas standards.

The DD5 and DD8 engines will be equipped with the Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remote diagnostics service. The system relays fault code details to the fleet via email or notification via the Detroit Connect portal. Critical faults are sent to the Detroit customer support center for further analysis. According to the company, within minutes the fleet knows the cause of the code, the level of severity, recommendations for fault resolution, and the parts needed to fix the problem.

The Detroit DD5 engine will be available for the Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2, and the DD8 will be offered for the Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner HDX. The engines will be available for order in 2018. Start of production for both products with the Detroit engines will take place later that year.

Also on Tuesday, Thomas Built Buses announced that nearly 250 units of its Saf-T-Liner C2 CNG school buses have been ordered since the start of production in June. More than half of those buses have already hit the road.