Remodeling Effort Coming to Thomas Plant after Retirement of Old Type C

HIGH POINT, N.C. (updated Dec. 15, 2006) - With production of the FS-65 Type C officially closed, Thomas Built Buses announced a $10.3 million manufacturing plant renovation to being in January 2008 for its Type D Saf-T-Liner® transit-style and Type A Minotaur® school buses.

The last Type C FS-65 produced heads to O'Brien Bus Service in Maryland.

The plant, located at 1408 Courtesy Road plant in High Point, previously produced only the Type D Saf-T-Liner and the the FS-65 Type C, which first went into production in 1972 on a variety of chassis brands. Thomas manufactured 249,036 of the conventional bodies over the model's life span, including on 62,764 Freightliner-designed chassis beginning in 1995. Thomas delivered the last FS-65 on Dec. 13 to O'Brien Bus Service in College Park, Md. The company primarily transports private school students to athletic events, field trips and church youth group events.

Thomas continues to produce its next-generation conventional C2 Saf-T-Liner, first rolled out in 2004, at the nearby plant on Fairfield Road.

"One of the most challenging aspects of the factory facelift is that manufacturing of our Type D bus will continue during the remodel," said John O'Leary, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses. "Our goal is to avoid any interruption of Type D deliveries and to keep our employees fully engaged during the transition."

He added the remodel will allow the OEM to improve logistics and worker ergonomics and to optimize production line layouts for its Type As and Ds. The project also will facilitate implementation of the DaimlerChrysler Production System, which was completed at the C2 plant last year.

At the same time, a Thomas spokesperson said the company is able to reaffirm its commitment to the local community. More than 60 percent of the renovation budget will go directly into the local economy through purchased materials, contracted labor and taxes.

Two days later, on Dec. 15, 1,600 Thomas employees celebrated the company's 90th anniversary. Perley A. Thomas began the company in 1916 as a manufacturer of street cars. Twenty years later, coinciding with the asention of motorized vehicles, Thomas switched his focus to school buses. The company changed its name in 1972 from Perley A. Thomas Car Works to Thomas Built Buses. Freightliner LLC, a division of DaimlerChrysler, purchased the company in 1998.

Today, Thomas boasts more than one-third of the school bus market. It said it annually manufacturers 15,000 units of its Type A activity buses, Type C conventional school buses and Type D transit-style buses and small Type A activity buses. There are more than 65 independently-owned Thomas Built dealers throughout North America.