HAMPTON, Va. — Attendees at the Southeastern States Pupil Transportation Conference (SESPTC) in late July sat in 25 presentations affecting the industry, heightened security awareness and increased prices resulting from the upcoming 2007 federal diesel engine requirements were at the forefront.

Barry DeRoze of Consolidated Safety Systems outlined the Transportation Security Administration’s new School Transportation Security Awareness Training that offers all pupil transportation employees (drivers, maintenance personnel and administrators and operations staff) specific training to assist them in understanding threats to school property and fleets, detailing vulnerability assessments and developing security plans. The program, available via DVD or online, was designed to overlap School Bus Watch developed by the American Trucking Associations along with NAPT, NASDPTS and NSTA to provide total security awareness.

IC Corporation told attendees that the school bus costs will increase by $6,000 in 2007 to meet new EPA requirements for diesel engines using ultra low sulfur diesel, which will reduce particulate matter by 90 percent and oxides of nitrogen by 50 percent. Dave Beebe, assistant general manager at IC Corp, said schools can also expect to pay $0.05 to $0.10 cents more per gallon for the backwards compatible ULSD, which is expected to be widely available by October.

The new engines will be outfitted with a diesel particulate filter that will require cleanings at $200 each every six to eight years, based on annual mileage, and an additional $90 per hour for labor. School buses will also need bigger cooling packages to higher heat rejection.

Schools must also use a new CJ-4 oil with lower ash content, but drain intervals should remain unchanged. He added IC’s Green Diesel Technology developed in 2001 was a foundation of the company’s new 2007 engines.

The conference also highlighted the so-called “65% Solution,” which would require 65 cents of every education dollar be spent on classroom instruction. The result would be random budget cuts from other “non-essential” programs like transportation, which Derek Graham, North Carolina’s state director and NASDPTS’ president-elect, told attendees could be catastrophic for school bus funding. The Kentucky Interlocal School Bus Association, in effect since 1991, was also described. The organization assists school districts with low-financing options for securing new school buses, tax-emempt rates, streamlined purchasing processes, self-insured collision policies, and an annual school bus auction. The program has resulted in 1,900 new school bus purchases totalling more than $116 million.

The conference also included a presentation by Graham and Jeff Tsai of the Institute of Transportation Research and Education on the experiences North Carolina schools have had with 3-point lap/shoulder seat belts on school buses, a workshop on commercial driver’s license issues, unique preschool issues affecting transportation, and online school bus driver training.

Charlie Kennington, SESPTC president, said approximately 237 delegates from 14 states were invited, consisting of 25 from each except Virginia, which was allowed 50 delegates as the host state. Another 177 guests attended as well.

“Some states it’s not real hard for them,” Kennington said on meeting the delegate numbers. “In Texas, I have 1,046 school districts to choose from. But a lot of them can’t travel out of state.”

In addition to the workshops was a two-day trade show.

Source: School Transportation News, September 2006. All rights reserved.