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English   Thomas Built Buses
26.09.2008 von admin


The postwar years again saw a sharp increase in the demand for school buses, but most suppliers at the time were still operating only at regional level. Thomas had five competitors in North and South Carolina alone, and nationally the market was divided between over 20 manufacturers. Thomas’ company was one of the first to look beyond its own region, and develop a nationwide distribution and service network. A branch in Pennsylvania was soon followed by others in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and New Jersey. The company now has over 50 branch establishments in the United States.

Thomas school buses were also in such demand in Canada that, in 1962, the manufacturer set up a branch factory in Woodstock, Ontario, which at its peak was turning out around one-third of Thomas’s total production. During the 1960s, a further two plants were opened in Ecuador and Peru, although these proved to be short-lived. And in 1972, the company - which had stopped making streetcars long before - changed to the name it still bears today: Thomas Built Buses.


Thomas bus body on a Dodge chassis, 1948.

Important contribution to high safety standards in America

For a school bus, nothing can be more important than its safety. Perley A. Thomas realized this from the outset, and continually suggested possibilities for improvements. From the perspective of the plant in High Point, the new safety standards issued in the 1970s were not a difficult challenge to be overcome, but merely a confirmation of an approach consistently applied by the company over many years.

School buses in America are also required to meet the customer’s expectations. They have to be strong, reliable, and safe, and each customer defines its own specifications accordingly. In addition, many calls for tenders also require extreme cost cutting on the part of the bus manufacturer. This puts the development costs for new frame structures and brake systems, for example, beyond the reach of a small-scale operator. During the 1970s, this prompted many local suppliers to seek a national presence. By 1980, there were only six school bus manufacturers left - one of which was Thomas Built Buses.

Most of America’s yellow school buses are strongly built cab-behind-engine, or “conventional” vehicles, often simply identified with the letter C. But even in the 1950s, Thomas was already looking at cab-over-designs as well. In 1978, the company introduced its Saf-T-Liner, which, as well as featuring a vertical front end, was also the first model to have its own chassis with a rear engine. The cab-over-engine design proved so successful that in the 1980s the company also decided to enter the city bus segment of the market.


The cab-over-engine Saf-T-Liner has been manufactured by Thomas since 1978.


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