With real-world testing underway, all three major school bus manufacturers have announced initial figures on EPA-compliant 2010 engine orders.

Blue Bird announced that its "Blue Bird Demo Bus Campaign" began last month and that more than 100 new school buses were on the way to customers this spring and early summer. The company chose Cummins to supply the diesel engines that utilize Selective Catalyst Reduction, or SCR, to perform after treatment of NOx to meet the EPA emissions requirements.

Thomas Built Buses is also using Cummins SCR for 2010. Nelson's Bus Service in Whitewater, Wis., southwest of Milwaukee, has been testing SCR in Saf-T-Liner C2 conventional school buses since February. In all, Daimler Trucks North America said orders had been taken on about 1,500 SCR Thomas school buses.

Meanwhile, IC Bus announced that 28 buses with Navistar MaxxForce Advanced Exhaust Gas Recirculation, or EGR, diesel engines werealready purchased by Waters Transportation in Columbus, Miss., and are currently being used. [Editor's note: an earlier version of this article indicated Waters Transportation was only testing the 2010 buses and could have implied they would later be returned to IC Bus.]

See the July 2010 magazine issue of School Transportation News for more on results the industry is starting to see on how these new engines perform.