List of school bus manufacturers

A school bus is a bus that has been designed primarily for the role of student transport. In the United States and Canada, safety regulations have influenced the design of school buses to an extent that they have evolved into separate vehicles from transit buses, and that an industry has been created to manufacture them. In other parts of the world, vehicles used as school buses are outwardly similar to transit buses.

School Bus Configurations

In most instances, school bus manufacturers are second stage manufacturers; however, a few school buses (typically those of Type D configuration) utilize a body and chassis produced by a single manufacturer. The North American school bus industry produces buses in four different body configurations, listed below:

Type A ("cutaway van") school buses are the smallest, typically with a GVWR under 10,000 pounds. These are constructed from a bus body placed on a cutaway van chassis with a left-side driver's door. Typical passenger capacity ranges from 16–30 passengers.
- See also Short buses.
Type B ("integrated") school buses are larger than Type A, with a GVWR over 10,000 pounds. These are constructed from a bus body mounted either to a stripped chassis or to a cowled chassis. Typical passenger capacity ranges from 30–36 passengers.
Type C ("conventional") school buses have a GVWR of over 10,000 pounds, typically between 23,000 and 29,500 pounds. These are constructed from a bus body mounted to a cowled medium-duty truck chassis usually supplied by another manufacturer. Typical passenger capacity ranges from 36–78 passengers.
Type D ("transit") school buses have a GVWR of over 10,000 lbs, typically between 25,000 and 36,000 pounds. They are constructed from a bus body mounted to a separate chassis. Unlike other types of school buses, the entrance door is mounted forward of the front axle.^[1] Typical passenger capacity ranges from 54–90 passengers.

School Bus Configurations

Type A school bus

Type B school/activity bus

Type C school bus

Type D school bus

There are four variations of school buses sold in North America.

Lists of Manufacturers

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Current Manufacturers
Company Name	Product(s)	Founded	Location	Notes
Full-line Manufacturers
Blue Bird Corporation	Type A (discontinued; outsourced to Girardin Minibus) Type B (discontinued) Type C Type D	1932	Fort Valley, Georgia	Blue Bird is a privately held company owned by Cerberus Capital Management In a joint venture, Blue Bird markets Girardin-produced Type A buses under the Blue Bird name.
IC Bus	Type A Type B Type C Type D	2002	Warrenville, Illinois (corporate) Tulsa, Oklahoma (assembly) Conway, Arkansas (parts fabrication)	IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar International Corporation. IC is a rebranding of AmTran, the successor of Ward Body Works.
Starcraft Bus	Type A Type C (coming 2012)	1997	Goshen, Indiana	Starcraft is a division of Forest River, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company. Starcraft announced in November 2009 a joint venture with Toyota's Hino Motors to develop an all-new Type C design.^[2] A prototype was unveiled in Fall 2010; full production is expected to begin in 2012.
Thomas Built Buses, Inc.	Type A Type B (discontinued) Type C Type D	1972	High Point, North Carolina	Thomas is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (Freightliner) Thomas Built Buses is the successor of Perley A. Thomas Car Works.
Type A-only Manufacturers
Collins Industries	Type A	1967	Hutchinson, Kansas	Collins Industries is the parent company of Collins Bus Corporation, Mid Bus Corporation and Corbeil Bus Corporation. Corbeil and Mid Bus products are brand-engineered Collins buses marketed toward specific regions of North America.
Girardin Minibus	Type A	1935	Drummondville, Quebec, Canada	Girardin is currently the sole Canadian-based producer of school buses. Girardin produces Type A school buses in a joint venture with Blue Bird known as Micro Bird, Inc.
Trans Tech	Type A	2007	Warwick, New York	Trans Tech is a division of Transportation Collaborative, Inc.
Type C-only Manufacturers
Lion Bus	Type C	2011	Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Canada	Lion Bus builds Type C buses on a Spartan Motors chassis.

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Recently Defunct Manufacturers (1980-present)
Company Name	Foundation	Ceased Production	Location	Notes
AmTran (American Transportation Corporation)	1980	2002	Conway, Arkansas Tulsa, Oklahoma	Produced Type A, C, and D buses. Marketed school buses under the Ward name from 1980-1992 (commercial buses adopted AmTran name in 1980.) Re-branded as International, then IC in 2003 after being purchased outright by Navistar International in 1995.
Carpenter Industries, Inc.	1919	2001	Mitchell, Indiana (1919-1995) Richmond, Indiana (1996-2001)	Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. Carpenter was shut down in May 2001 by parent company Spartan Motors.
Crown By Carpenter	1996	1999	Richmond, Indiana	Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. Crown by Carpenter was a 1996-99 re-branding of Carpenter using the rights from the purchase of the Crown Coach name. The Crown name was dropped from Carpenter for the 2000 model year by Spartan Motors.
Coach and Equipment Manufacturing			Penn Yan, New York^[3]	A manufacturer of van conversions to Type A school buses from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s ^[4]
Crown Coach Corporation	1904	1991	Los Angeles, California Chino, California	Produced Type D buses Subsidiary of GE Railcar from 1987-1991. Rights to the Crown name were purchased in May 1991 by Carpenter Body Works.
Gillig Corporation	1890	1993	Hayward, California	Produced Type C and D buses. Ended school bus production in 1993; still produces mass-transit buses.
Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil (Corbeil)	1985	2007	St-Lin-Laurentides, Quebec, Canada	Produced Type A, C, and D buses. Type C and D full-size buses sold in Canada only. Assets acquired by Collins Industries in 2007 Exists today in the United States as Collins subsidiary Corbeil Bus Corporation.
Liberty Bus			Lima, Ohio	Produced a small number of Type A school buses in early 2000s.
Mid Bus Corporation	1981	2008	Lima, Ohio Bluffton, Ohio	Created by employees of Superior Coach Company to continue production of Type A school buses. Acquired by Collins Bus Corporation in 1998. Since 2008, Mid Bus products are re-badged Collins models.
New Bus, Inc.^[5]^[6]^[7]		1990	Chickasha, Oklahoma	Produced a small number of Type C and Type D buses in the late 1980s. Type C buses were continuation of Superior production.
Superior Coach Company		1982 1985	Lima, Ohio	Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. Superior employees created Mid Bus in 1981. Full-size bus production ended after 1985 (design later used by New Bus, Inc.).
TAM-USA^[8]	1991	1991	Maribor, Slovenia (initial body assembly) Van Nuys, California (final assembly)	TAM-USA was an importer of Yugoslavian-built TAM buses A small number of school bus bodies (Type D) were manufactured in Yugoslavia and fitted with American drivetrain components in California.
U.S. Bus Corporation			Suffern, New York	Producer of Type A buses in 1990s and early 2000s.
Ward Body Works	1933	1980	Conway, Arkansas Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania	Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1980; re-organized as American Transportation Corporation (AmTran) in 1981. Successor AmTran continued use of Ward brand name (on school buses) until 1992.
Wayne Corporation	1837	1992	Richmond, Indiana Windsor, Ontario, Canada	Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses. Wayne underwent several changes of ownership before ending up as Richmond Transportation Corporation from 1985-92. Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (the successor to Wayne Corporation) was a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation and ceased operations in 1995.
Wayne Wheeled Vehicles	1992	1995	Marysville, Ohio	Produced Type A, C, and D buses. Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (the successor to Wayne Corporation) was a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation. Continued production of Wayne Corporation products.

Historical Manufacturers (before 1980)
Company Name	Ceased Production	Location	Notes
Hackney Brothers Body Company^[9]	c. 1966	Wilson, North Carolina	Produced Type C buses on Ford chassis.
Kenworth-Pacific	1957	Renton, Washington	Produced Type D buses. Kenworth subsequently sold their bus tooling and equipment to Gillig.
Northern Coach ^[10]		Wisconsin	Produced a small number of "Northern-Air" Type C buses in the late 1970s.
Oneida Products Corporation^[11]	1960	Canastota, New York Indianapolis, Indiana	From 1952-1960, Oneida was owned by professional car manufacturer Henney Motor Company. Oneida was purchased in 1960 by Marmon-Herrington.
Perley A. Thomas Car Works	1972	High Point, North Carolina	Produced Type C and D buses; best known for streetcar production. Perley A. Thomas Car Works was re-organized into Thomas Built Buses in 1972.
Union City Body Company^[12]	1957	Union City, Indiana	Produced Type C buses. Union City is now a supplier of bodies for UPS.

References

^ School Bus Transportation News at STN Media
^ Ryan Gray (6 November 2009). "Starcraft, Hino Trucks to Partner on Type C School Bus". School Transportation News. STN Media Group. http://stnonline.com/home/top-stories/1435-starcraft-hino-trucks-to-partner-on-type-c-school-bus. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
^ This literature has Coach and Equipment's business address at the time.
^ This is a website that shows both manufacturers' literature and photographs of their different bus models
^ Tris Online: The New Bus Company Enters The Market
^ http://www.schoolbuscentral.com/gallery/archived/feb04/images/11.bmp
^ http://www.schoolbuscentral.com/gallery/archived/jan04/images/14.jpg
^ http://www.schoolbuscentral.com/gallery/archived/jan04/tam_1_re_91_lit.htm Webpage showing product literature and information
^ http://busexplorer.com/SchoolBus/Archives/Other/xHackneyFord66.html This includes city information, and more specific product information
^ http://www.schoolbuscentral.com/gallery/manufacturers/northern/images/0903_24.jpg
^ http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/o/oneida/oneida.htm
^ http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/u/union_city/union_city.htm brief company history with location information

North American School bus manufacturers

Active Manufacturers

Full-Size and Small Buses	Small Buses Only

Blue Bird Corporation IC Bus Lion Bus (full-size buses only) Thomas Built Buses, Inc	Collins Industries (Collins, Mid Bus, Corbeil) Girardin Minibus Starcraft Bus Trans Tech

Defunct Manufacturers (Including date of closure or last school bus manufacture)

2000s	Carpenter Industries, Inc (2001) • American Transportation Corporation (AmTran) (2002; became IC Bus) • Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil (2008; acquired by Collins) • Liberty Bus (2005) • U.S. Bus Corporation

1990s	Coach and Equipment Manufacturing (1999; still in business) • Crown Coach Corporation (1991) • Gillig Corporation (1993; still in business) • Mid Bus (1998; acquired by Collins) • TAM-USA (1991) • Wayne Corporation (1992; became Wayne Wheeled Vehicles) • Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (1995)

1980s	Ward Body Works (1980; became AmTran) • New Bus Company (1989) • Superior Coach Company (1985)

1970s	Northern Coach • Perley A. Thomas Car Works (1972; became Thomas Built Buses)

1960s	Hackney Brothers Body Company (1966)

1950s	Kenworth-Pacific (1957; still in business)

List of school bus manufacturers