Good news, bad news: New school buses breaking down

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS

Nine spanking-new Clark County School District buses have made unscheduled stops so far in this school year.

They broke down before they even got here from the factory.

The district ordered 150 new buses, at $114,000 a pop, hoping to fill out its fleet of 1,356 buses by Aug. 27, the start of the school year.

So far, only 36 have arrived from the factory, Thomas Built Buses of High Point, N.C.

The delivery of others has been delayed because of bugs in their emissions systems.

Of the first 13 buses dispatched to Las Vegas, nine broke down along the 2,249-mile journey from the factory and were sent back . That's a 69 percent breakdown rate.

What kind of a positive spin do you put on that?

They're calling it the equivalent of a "shakedown cruise" - and that it's better that buses break down on the way to Las Vegas than on Boulder Highway or Charleston Boulevard carrying scores of children to school one morning.

"From our standpoint, the transportation from the manufacturer is a 2,400-mile test drive," said Ernesto Salazar, regional sales director for Auto Safety House, the manufacturer's local distributor.

"You find out all the problems before a kid ever gets on the bus," agreed Ron Despenza, the School District's transportation director. "That's the silver lining."

We knew there had to be one.

"There's been all sorts of problems - things breaking down, delivery is behind schedule," Despenza said. "On the upside, everyone's doing everything they can to fix things quickly."

Ken Hedgecock, Thomas Built Buses' vice president of sales, marketing and service, says it's not unheard of for his company's vehicles to develop problems en route, particularly when the buyer is seven states away. That gives the company the chance to resolve the mechanical kinks before buses go into service, Hedgecock said.

Much of the delay is because of more stringent federal emission standards, he said. The buses are equipped with new engine technology designed to produce fewer pollutants, and "there were some issues," Hedgecock said.

"Instead of delivering faulty equipment, we wanted to make sure the units would perform as promised before we put them in Clark County's hands," he said.

Nine of his employees has been relocated from High Point to Las Vegas to smooth things out.

"We're doing everything we can to expedite the order," Hedgecock said.

The buses are delivered to Auto Safety House before being turned over to the district. Salazar said he expected five more of the district's buses to clear inspection by today and be ready for service.

The rest of the district's order should be filled by month's end , Salazar said.

In the meantime, the district is scrambling to cover the routes that pick up, deliver and return more than 100,000 students each day. The gaps in service are mostly at the middle schools, where buses must make two runs to carry all the students who need a lift home.

In all, district buses travel more than 18 million miles each year, covering more than 8,000 square miles.

"We need every bus we can get," Despenza said.