Thomas Built Buses

Thomas Built Buses, Inc., commonly designated Thomas, is an American bus manufacturer headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, USA and a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America, the parent company of Freightliner. Thomas produces school buses, activity buses/MFSAB (Multi-Function School Activity Buses), and commercial buses; both small and full-size buses are produced.

Thomas traces its roots to 1916, when it was incorporated as the Perley A. Thomas Car Works in High Point, North Carolina. Thomas Car Works initially specialized in the production of electric streetcars; a few still exist today. As buses largely superseded streetcars as a mode of public transportation during the 1930s, the company shifted to buses with most production dedicated to school buses. By the 1970s, Thomas Car Works had become one of the dominant school bus manufacturers in North America. In 1972, the company reorganized, adopting its current name, Thomas Built Buses.

History

Perley A. Thomas: streetcar and bus pioneer

Perley A. Thomas (1874–1958) was a native of Canada and a millwright (specifically in woodworking), by trade. He worked for a subsidiary of the famous streetcar manufacturer J. G. Brill and Company, in Cleveland, Ohio, early in the 20th century, and attended night school courses in structural engineering at Case Institute of Technology then moved south to work for another streetcar builder at its High Point, N.C., location in 1910. Thomas became chief engineer, draftsman and designer for the company, using both his mechanical skills and his experience as a skilled woodworker. When the streetcar industry began to turn from wooden to steel construction, Thomas was able to make the switch, but his employer, Southern Car Company went out of business in 1916.

Perley A. Thomas Car Works

Further information: Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Inc.

Perley A. Thomas 900-Series streetcar

Thomas founded Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Inc. in 1916 as his own streetcar building company, using the former facilities and many employees of the Southern Car Company. During the next 20 years, Perley A. Thomas streetcars were built and delivered to communities all across the United States, including New Orleans, where they operated on the Desire line made famous by Tennessee Williams' 1947 Broadway play and later film of the same name, A Streetcar Named Desire. New Orleans is one of the only cities where Perley A. Thomas streetcars can still be found in active service as public transportation vehicles (as opposed to museum pieces and novelty rides).

A transition to buses: the 1930s

The national trend in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s was toward use of personal automobiles rather than riding public transportation. As streetcar ridership decreased, less costly buses were often used in substitution by the companies operating the service. Orders for new streetcars and renovations began falling off.

Just as he had made the transition from wooden to steel streetcar building, Thomas and his workers at High Point also made the transition to building buses successfully. In 1934, Duke Power of South Carolina had Thomas build 10 transit buses. In 1936, Thomas ceased production of streetcars and launched a new product: the school bus. The same year, the company built 200 wooden-bodied school buses for the state of North Carolina, beginning a long tradition with that state which continues to the present day.

In the early days of the school bus, Perley Thomas and his company's reputation for design innovation and quality manufacturing helped transform the industry. In the United States, many school buses in the 1930s were nothing more than flatbed truck chassis with wooden sides and a canvas roof, and had few or no safety devices.

In 1938, the company introduced the first welded all-steel bus body. In 1939, Dr. Frank W. Cyr of New York, who became known as "The Father of the Yellow School Bus", hosted a 7 day long national conference of industry and school leaders which established 44 important safety standards and the yellow color for school buses all across the United States.

1961 Thomas school bus on an International Harvester chassis.

The company became a major school bus body builder in the post-World War II period. By 1980, it was one of the big six school bus body companies in the United States, competing with Blue Bird Body Company, Carpenter Body Works, Superior Coach Company, Ward Body Works, and Wayne Corporation.

1972-1998: Thomas as an independent company

Thomas Built Buses, Inc. was incorporated in 1972 as the successor to Perley A. Thomas Car Works. In 1978, Thomas introduced its first company-designed bus chassis for its popular Saf-T-Liner transit-style bus; the Saf-T-Liner was sold for both for school and commercial use. In the past, Thomas was previously dependent upon truck chassis made by other companies for its transit-style school bus bodies (particularly Ford, Dodge, GMC, International Harvester and even Volvo), much like the majority of other school bus manufacturers. Thomas was the first school bus manufacturer to design its own chassis for both its front and rear-engine models, beating competitor Blue Bird by a decade (California manufacturers Crown Coach and Gillig Corporation did not manufacture a front-engine model that competed with Thomas).

The late 1970s and early 1980s was a period of struggle for school bus manufacturers. Coupled with the slow economy, manufacturers could no longer count on the factor that had driven school bus sales for the past two decades: the entirety of the baby-boom generation had finished school; it would be years before student populations would create sufficient demand again. During this time, a number of manufacturers either encountered financial difficulty or closed their doors altogether. Thomas diversified its product lineup, entering the small school bus market, creating unique products, and redesigning its transit-style buses to compete with newly introduced competitors.

In 1980, the company began to manufacture a smaller school bus on a cutaway van chassis, the Thomas Minotour, which is still in production (as of 2010). Also in the 1980s, the company entered the commercial public transit bus market. In 1989, Thomas introduced the Thomas Vista school bus, a modified conventional design providing improved front-end visibility for drivers. Early in the 1990s, Thomas introduced the MVP (which stood for Maneuverability, Visibility, and Protection); a transit-style school bus, available in front and rear-engine models, the MVP was a lower-cost version of the standard Saf-T-Liner intended to boost sales. The front-engine MVP was still sold in 2010 as the Saf-T-Liner EF.

By the end of the 20th century, Thomas (along with Blue Bird and Ward successor AmTran) was one of only three principal builders of large school buses in the United States. It is still based in High Point, and in 1998, was acquired by the Freightliner Group of Daimler AG. Currently, Thomas employs over 1,600 people worldwide.

1998–present: division of Freightliner

2005 Freightliner FS-65

In the 1990s, the school bus industry was changed by a number of acquisitions and mergers. Several of the acquiring firms were either truck manufacturers or custom chassis builders. In the case of Thomas, they were acquired in 1998 by the Freightliner division of Daimler AG (then DaimlerChrysler).

The purchase of Thomas came soon after Freightliner's entry into school bus chassis production. In 1997, Freightliner had launched the FS-65 conventional school bus chassis based on its FL-Series medium duty truck; Freightliner was the first new chassis producer since Chrysler stopped production of Dodge school bus chassis in 1977. The purchase of Thomas allowed Freightliner to offer the FS-65 through a single body manufacturer, and the gamble worked. Throughout its production run, the FS-65 was used throughout many districts around the US. The last FS-65 was produced and delivered on December 13, 2006, to O'Brien Bus Service, Inc. of Maryland.

From 2001 to 2011, the Thomas full-size bus lineup underwent a series of revisions. In 2001, the Saf-T-Liner HD (later the HDX) was introduced to replace both the Saf-T-Liner and MVP ER models. While distinguished by its large mirrors (integrating side-view, convex, and cross-view into a single unit), the HD also showed the increased use of Freightliner components on Thomas buses (headlights and instrument panel). In 2003, all Thomas Conventionals became based on the FS-65 chassis. A much larger change came in 2004 with the introduction of the Saf-T-Liner C2. Intended as the replacement for the FS-65 Conventional, the C2 was based on the Freightliner M2 Business Class. Wearing an all-new body, the C2 differs from previous buses in its body construction; it also uses the M2 dashboard in its entirety. In 2009, Thomas launched a new Type A design called the MyBus; while not a replacement for the Minotour, the MyBus is geared specifically towards the activity bus market. It is available in three sizes on a GM chassis. In 2011, the Saf-T-Liner EFX was introduced to replace the Saf-T-Liner EF; featuring the windshield from the HDX, the EFX is the first new front-engine Thomas bus since 1991.

In 2004, Perley A. Thomas, founder of the Thomas streetcar and bus building companies, who died in 1958, was among the first inductees into the Raleigh-based North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame.

Products

In addition to school buses, Thomas also offers activity buses,commercial buses, specialty busses and child-care buses derived from the Minotour, Mybus, C2, EFX, and HDX lines. For custom-built vehicles based on its school buses (applications such as bloodmobiles and mobile command centers), Thomas collaborates with Matthews Specialty Vehicles, Inc.

School Buses

Current Product Line
Model Name	Thomas Minotour/MyBus	Saf-T-Liner C2	Thomas Saf-T-Liner (EFX, HDX)
Photo
Year Introduced	Minotour: 1980 MyBus: 2009	2004	EFX: 2012 HDX: 2001 (as Saf-T-Liner HD)
Assembly	High Point, North Carolina
Configuration	Type A (cutaway van) Minotour: single rear wheel, dual rear wheel MyBus: single rear wheel, dual rear wheel	Type C (conventional)	Type D (transit-style) (front engine, rear engine)
Chassis Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company Ford E-350/E-450 Ford Transit 350/350HD General Motors Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana	Daimler Trucks North America LLC Freightliner C2 (Freightliner M2 106)	Thomas Built Buses Front-engine Type D chassis Rear-engine Type D chassis
Fuel Type(s)	Minotour Gasoline Diesel Propane Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) MyBus Gasoline	Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Diesel Propane	EFX Diesel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) HDX Diesel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
Passenger Capacity	14-30	up to 81	up to 90
Other Notes	Minotour Produced as school bus and MFSAB MyBus Based on Minotour, produced only as MFSAB on Chevrolet/GMC chassis & Ford Transit van chassis	Produced as school bus, commercial bus, and MFSAB/activity bus Based on Freightliner C2, derived from Freightliner M2 106 Business Class medium-duty truck Replaced Saf-T-Liner Conventional and Saf-T-Liner FS-65 Produced as diesel-electric hybrid from 2007 to 2013 Propane version released in 2013	EFX Produced as school bus, commercial bus, and MFSAB/activity bus Replaced Thomas Saf-T-Liner EF in 2011 Shares some front bodywork and windshield with HDX. HDX Produced as school bus, commercial bus, and MFSAB/activity bus Introduced in 2001 as the Saf-T-Liner HD; replaced the Saf-T-Liner ER and Saf-T-Liner MVP ER. Distinguished by large front mirror units, which mount the side-view, wide-angle, and cross-view mirrors into a single unit.

Former Product Lines
Model Name	Years Produced	Configuration	Chassis Supplier	Notes
Mighty Mite	mid 1980s-early 1990s	Type B (integrated)	General Motors Chevrolet P-30	Also the name of the lowest-capacity versions of Thomas Conventionals before the 1970s. Also used for base for para-transit buses in Toronto
Saf-T-Liner Conventional	1962-2002	Type C (Conventional)	Chrysler Corporation Dodge D-300 (to 1977) Ford Motor Company Ford B600/B700/B800/B8000 (1962-1998) General Motors Chevrolet/GMC B-Series (1966–1991) International Harvester Company/Navistar International International Harvester International Harvester Loadstar (1962–1978) International Harvester S-Series "Schoolmaster" (1979–1989) Navistar International 3700/3800 (1989–2002)	Introduced in 1962 by Perley A. Thomas Car Works school bus division. Distinguished by windshield wipers mounted above windshield (2-piece flat glass)
Saf-T-Liner FS-65	1997–2007	Type C (Conventional)	Freightliner Freightliner FS-65 (1997-2007)	Saf-T-Liner FS-65 is one product of the Freightliner purchase of Thomas in 1998. All FS-65 chassis wore Thomas bodies after 2001. Distinguished by the Saf-T-Liner Conventional by its four-piece windshield.
Vista	1989-1998	Type C (Semi-forward control conventional)	General Motors (1989-1991) Navistar International (1992-1998) International 3600	To aid forward visibility, the Vista mounted the driver's seat alongside the engine rather than behind it, similar to a Type D bus. Produced on a Thomas-badged Chevrolet/GMC chassis from 1989-1991 and an International chassis from 1992-1998. 1994 update gained additional windshield and side windshield glass.
Thomas Saf-T-Liner (EF, ER, WestCoastER)	Saf-T-Liner EF 1978-1990 2007-2011 Saf-T-Liner ER WestCoastER 1978-2000	Type D (transit-style) Saf-T-Liner EF front engine Saf-T-Liner ER WestCoastER rear engine	Thomas Built Buses	Saf-T-Liner EF Introduced in 1978 as Thomas began production on own chassis. Replaced by MVP EF in 1991. Name reintroduced in 2007 as part of MVP redesign, replaced by EFX. Saf-T-Liner ER Introduced in 1978 as Thomas began production on own chassis. Replaced by Saf-T-Liner HD (later HDX) for 2001. WestCoastER Heavy-Duty derivative of Saf-T-Liner ER sold to West Coast customers Built with 84 and 90 passenger bodies; tandem rear axles were an option on 90-passenger version
Saf-T-Liner MVP EF/ER, All-Star	All-Star 1991-1994 Saf-T-Liner MVP EF 1994-2007 Saf-T-Liner MVP ER 1995-2004	Type D (transit-style) All-Star front engine Saf-T-Liner MVP EF front engine Saf-T-Liner MVP ER rear engine	All-Star Oshkosh Corporation Saf-T-Liner MVP EF Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner MVP ER Thomas Built Buses	All-Star Front-engine chassis built by Oshkosh Corporation; built from 1991-1994 as a competitor to Blue Bird TC/2000. Distinguished from MVP EF by having Thomas emblem above grille (rather than centered). Distinguished by previous Saf-T-Liner EF by much larger windshield and dual headlights (rather than four) Saf-T-Liner MVP EF Replaced All-Star in 1995; built on Thomas chassis. MVP= Maneuverability, Visibility, and Protection. Changed to Saf-T-Liner EF in 2007 as part of an update and replaced by EFX for 2012. Saf-T-Liner MVP ER Built on Thomas chassis MVP= Maneuverability, Visibility, and Protection. Replaced by Saf-T-Liner HDX for 2004.

Other Buses

Thomas sold commercial derivatives of the Minotour, Conventional, Vista, along with the following:

Thomas/Dennis SLF200

• Transit Liner MVP EF/ER- commercial derivative of Saf-T-Liner MVP school bus
• TL960 - rear-engine transit bus derived from Saf-T-Liner ER
• Chartour- rear-engine transit bus
• CL960 - rear-engine transit bus
• SLF200 (Super Low Floor) series - transit bus jointly developed with Dennis Specialist Vehicles, based on Dennis Dart SLF

Thomas Built Buses, Inc. Timeline

Bus Type

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

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Type A

Minotour

MyBus

Type B

Mighty Mite

Type C

Conventional

Thomas/Freightliner FS-65

Saf-T-Liner C2

Vista

Vista

Type D

Saf-T-Liner EF/ER

Saf-T-Liner ER

Saf-T-Liner MVP EF/Saf-T-Liner EF

Saf-T-Liner EFX

Saf-T-Liner MVP ER

Saf-T-Liner HD

Saf-T-Liner HDX

All Star EF

Images

Thomas Saf-T-Liner (transit bus) Thomas Saf-T-Liner (transit bus)  Canadian-market Thomas Conventional (Ford chassis)  Thomas Conventional (Navistar chassis)

See also

• Thomas Dennis Company LLC, a joint venture between Dennis and Thomas Built Buses (1999–2003)

External links

• Official website
• Matthews Specialty Vehicles, Inc. - converter of Thomas buses to specialty vehicles