School Bus Fleet, March 2017

RESNA StandardsQRT 360 was built to meet the higher load requirements of the newest standardsSTRENGTHIN NUMBERSTodays Numbers 18 19Get all the facts and figures at QSTRAINT COM QRT 360 11 MARCH 2017 SCHOOL BUS FLEET NEWS CHATTANOOGA Tenn State troopers and local police will keep a close eye on school buses around Chattanooga for the rest of the school year according to a plan revealed in early February The development follows the Nov 21 school bus crash in which six students from Woodmore Elementary School were killed and 31 were injured The Hamilton County Department of Education said in a press release that the Tennessee Highway Patrols new plan of action works cooperatively with other agencies to ensure the safety of all Hamilton County school bus passengers Law enforcement personnel will ride and follow Woodmore Elementary school bus routes They will also randomly patrol other routes in Hamilton County for the remainder of the school year Highway Patrol troopers will initially concentrate on the Woodmore route with Chattanooga Police Department officers and Hamilton County Sheriffs Office deputies riding or following other Hamilton County school bus routes as schedules and manpower permit Kirk Kelly interim superintendent of the Hamilton County Department of Education said that he is grateful for the support The safety and well being of our students is always our number one priority Kelly said We are so appreciative our partners in law enforcement are just as committed to the safety of our students By Thomas McMahon Cops Monitor School Buses in Chattanooga Tennessee state troopers and local police will ride and follow Hamilton County school buses for the rest of the school year The plan follows the Nov 21 fatal crash in Chattanooga Photo courtesy Tennessee Highway Patrol A new federal report sheds light on the frequency and common causes of bus fires The study titled Motorcoach and School Bus Fire Safety Analysis was conducted by the John A Volpe National Transportation Systems Center for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA Researchers compiled data on school bus and motorcoach fire incidents from 2004 to 2013 then analyzed the data to identifying trends and common factors According to the Volpe study most motorcoach and school bus fires start in the engine area running gear or wheel area For incidents in which the area of origin was known 68 of school bus fires originated in one of those areas In the incidents that Volpe analyzed the most frequent cause of ignition was failure of equipment or heat source The researchers found that school bus fires in the U S occur slightly more than daily while motorcoach fires occur slightly less than daily For both types of vehicles there was a downward trend in fire frequency over the 10 year period The report also gives an assessment of the results of the fires Deaths and injuries resulting from motorcoach or school bus fires are rare but can be severe in worst case scenarios The vast majority of the reported fires resulted in no direct injuries or fatalities and the average reported property damage per incident was a fraction of the total cost of the vehicle In the report Volpe makes recommendations to FMCSA and the industry in several areas data quality operational training and outreach vehicle design and equipment development and inspection and enforcement standards To access the Volpe study go to schoolbusfleet com Mar17d Study Analyzes School Bus Fires By Thomas McMahon