A management & maintenance magazine for school transportation fleets
Issue link: https://sbf.epubxp.com/i/113351
Upward Trend Average bus retirement age Road salt Have retreaded tires on your buses' rear axles? No salt Years for large buses 14.4 19.3 Years for small buses 13.4 16.4 Respondents in areas where road salts are used typically retire their school buses several years earlier than those in areas where salts aren't used. The average retirement ages in all categories increased from last year's survey. Bus-to-tech ratio (by feet size) 30 27 26 24 22% None % 24 Some 54% More than three-fourths (76%) of respondents said that they have retreaded (aka recapped) tires on the rear axle of some or all of their school buses. On average, 61% of respondents' school buses have rear-axle retreads. 28 Conduct shop safety inspections? 23 21 Buses per tech 26 All 18 No 15 12 22% 13 9 Yes 6 78% 3 0 1-24 25-49 50-99 100-299 300+ Buses in feet The ratio of school buses to full-time technicians typically increases with feet size. The average ratio for all feet sizes is 22 buses per tech, which is higher than last year's average, 19. More than three-fourths (78%) of respondents said that they conduct safety inspections of their shop. They reported a wide range of frequencies for these inspections, from daily to annually. MARCH 2013 ¥ SCHOOL BUS FLEET 25