Feds Provide Info on Suspicious Attempts to Buy Used School Buses

ALBANY, N.Y. — The National Association of Pupil Transportation re-posted an alert from the Transportation Security Administration and FBI that there have apparently been several bogus attempts made throughout the northeast region of the United States to purchase used school buses.

“TSA monitors suspicious activity and has reported that dubious attempts to purchase used school buses have taken place in the northeast region of the country,” the NAPT bulletin stated. “There has been no sign of terrorist-related activity to date; however the incidents could indicate a troubling trend.”

At least three incidences were reported over the summer. The FBI bulletin reported a an instance in Bergen, N.Y., where three men described as being of Middle Eastern descent entered a school bus company office and inquired about used school buses that were for sale and asked for access to the vehicles in inventory. The request was refused and the men left. They were later seen looking at the company’s bus yard from across the street in a maroon sedan with unidentified Ontario license plates.

A previous TSA/FBI bulletin apparently asked pupil transporters to contact the Surface Transportation and Public Transportation Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) instead of the correct entity, the Highway IASC operated by the American Trucking Associations’ Highway Watch, said Mike Martin, NAPT’s executive director.

Calls to Highway Watch for comment went unreturned as of this writing. Transportation officials receiving any unusual inquiries about purchasing used buses from unknown parties should contact the Highway IASC at 703/838-1700, or visit its Web site for more information on reporting suspicious activities, such as calling 911.

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