"Many forward-thinking customers are taking advantage of opportunities to build cleaner, greener fleets, and to address their long-term concerns about the price of diesel fuel. There's about a $1 a gallon advantage in CNG over diesel, and that really adds up when you're running a fleet of school buses. In addition, low finance rates and lower maintenance costs can sweeten the deal, generating substantial savings," Ken Hedgecock, vice president of sales, marketing and service for Thomas Built Buses said.
The buses were purchased from Midwest Bus Sales, the Thomas Built dealer for Kansas, Oklahoma, western Missouri and Illinois. Back in September, Mid Midwest delivered one pilot model, with another four joining it in late November, all being used for driver training. The rest of the buses will be delivered before the end of this year, and will enter service when the infrastructure is completed in early 2011.
The infrastructure is comprised of 35 “time-fill” dispensers, with dual hoses allowing each station to fuel two buses at a time. The “time-fill” system allows overnight filling without any personnel being present, saving staff time and personnel cost.
"Thomas responded to the school district's request for bids with information on both hybrids and CNG buses. The school district chose CNG, in part because they liked the idea of using domestically-sourced CNG, rather than imported diesel fuel," explains Scott Kincaid, Midwest Bus Sales lease manager.
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