Rain-X donates visibility products for 2 districts’ buses

Spring Independent School District (ISD) in Houston receives glass cleaner and windshield washer fluid from Rain-X for the district’s fleet of 440 school buses and other vehicles. Rain-X will also make a donation to another Houston-area district, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

NAPT News & Views — Winter 2014: Yellow buses completed their appointed rounds

Winter this year was particularly challenging, with storm after storm dumping massive snowfalls again and again, as far south as Atlanta. The lesson of this winter is an important one for policymakers everywhere: School buses are an indispensable community service.

Indiana district sees maintenance savings with propane buses

Tippecanoe School Corp. uses 32 quarts of oil per oil change with its diesel buses versus seven quarts for its propane buses. Tippecanoe's Alan Fidler, who has twice won the title of America's Best School Bus Technician, discusses savings and other maintenance-related advantages of the district's five propane buses.

Pickup truck loses control, kills school bus driver

In a snowstorm near Aspen Park, Colo., last week, the driver of a bus with other bus drivers on board had pulled over to put on snow chains. A Colorado State Patrol trooper tells SBF that a pickup truck attempted to slow down and lost control, crashing into the bus and fatally striking John "Jack" Garland, one of the bus drivers who had gotten out to help.

PHOTOS: Pupil Transporters Take on Winter 2014

Heavy snow forces closure of bus garage

Forest Lake Area Schools officials cite structural concerns since the garage, a pole barn that was built in 1961, has broken beams. It was being used to house 25 of the district’s vehicles and is expected to be torn down.

Ice, snow cited as factors in 2 school bus crashes

Police say that no children were injured in the separate incidents, which both happened on Friday in southern Indiana. In one crash, a minivan hit a patch of ice and slid into a school bus. In the other, a bus slid off a roadway and into a ditch.

In harsh cold, school buses serve as warming stations

With temperatures hovering in the single digits on Thursday, Nashville residents who needed a break from the bitter cold could climb aboard a "Mobile Warming Station" — also known as a yellow school bus. The city's Office of Emergency Management partnered with Metro Nashville Public Schools for the innovative program.

Report: Blue Bird propane bus performs well in cold temps

Officials from school districts and bus companies on the East Coast and in the Midwest report easy starting, quick warm-up and quiet operation of the propane Vision school buses in their fleets during the recent cold snap. Blue Bird says propane autogas’ natural properties keep the fuel in a constant liquid form, free from freezing or gelling, and the liquid form provides better control of the air-to-fuel ratio, resulting in excellent start-up dependability.

Frigid temperatures cancel bus routes, delay school

From coast to coast in the U.S. and in some Canadian provinces, this week’s cold snap has impacted pupil transportation operations. Issues such as thickened fuel and oil and frozen air lines cause districts to cancel bus service and close schools or delay school start times.