Mid Bus
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Mid Bus specializes in manufacturing customized school bus in Bluffton, Ohio. Formed in 1981 by former employees of Superior Coach Company in Lima, Ohio, it grew from a dozen employees to become one of the country's largest manufacturers of smaller school buses. The company was acquired by Collins Bus Corporation in 1998.
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[edit] History
In 1980, in the U.S., there were six major school bus body companies building large school buses, mostly making bodies for chassis from four truck manufacturers, joined by two coach-type school bus builders on the West Coast. Most also made some smaller buses of various types. With the baby boom years which swelled the ranks of school children in the past, the manufacturing industry faced serious over-capacity as companies vied and competed for lower volumes of purchases.
In 1981, when Sheller-Globe Corporation, a diversified industrial conglomerate closed down its large Superior Coach Company bus factory in Lima, Ohio, three former managers created Mid Bus, manufacturing Superior's smallest Type A bus under the new "Superior by Mid Bus" brand name.
Initially, they had a dozen other former employees of the large factory, and worked in a small shop. As other small bus products were added, Superior by Mid Bus was shortened to Mid Bus. In the late 1980s, the company acquired the Minuteman product line from AmTran (formerly Ward Body Company) and in the early 1990s, the tooling and product rights to Busette from Wayne Corporation.
After a succession of larger facilities in Lima, around 1995, the company moved to a much larger facility in Bluffton, Ohio. Mid Bus became a subsidiary of Collins Industries, a publicly-traded stock company, in 1998.
[edit] Products
- Guide SW - Ford E350 or GMC 3500/\checy 2500 chassis
- Guide DW - Ford E350 or GMC 3500/\checy 2500 chassis
- Guide XL - GMC Truck chassis
- Multi Function SAB - Ford E350 or GMC 3500/\checy 2500 chassis
