BusWest Acquires California Bus Sales

The merged company will become the largest bus distributor in California

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. (May 12, 2006) - BusWest, a division of Los Angeles Freightliner, announced the acquisition of California Bus Sales (CBS) of Fresno. Both BusWest and CBS are school bus dealers for the Thomas Built Bus product line in California and Hawaii.

"We are very excited to combine these two organizations into one strong, focused team," said Bill Webster, president of BusWest. He added consolidation efforts will occur over the coming weeks and work will continue out of both Los Angeles and Fresno locations.

BusWest cited its seven locations in Southern California and CBS' strong presence elsewhere throughout the state as important factors in providing service and warranty support to the local school bus market. The merger will increase the levelcustomer service, Thomas Built Buses added, with over 75 employees working with the 450 employees at various Freightliner facilities.

"Bus sales, customer service, parts sales, training and technical service will be dramatically improved by offering a single point of contact to our customers," said Ken Hedgecock, Thomas' vice president of sales, marketing and service.

In addition to Southern California, BusWest has offices in Las Vegas and Phoenix.

For more information, contact Joe Angeli at BusWest, 562/404-8700.