When It Comes to Precious Cargo, School District Calls on Caterpillar
For Kevin Keith, shop manager at MV Student Transportation in St. Louis, a school bus—and the engine that powers it—is extremely important. That's why his fleet contains 66 vehicles with Caterpillar^® C7 engines with ACERT™ Technology.
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King County Transit Cites Reliability, Clean Air Advantages for Cat^® C9
When you provide public transportation for more than a million people per year, downtime isn't an option. Read on to learn why George Stites of King County Metro Transit in Seattle counts on Cat for reliability.
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When It Comes to Precious Cargo, School District Calls on Caterpillar

To the average person, most school buses and the engines that power them probably look and operate about the same. They are big, yellow and transport children to school. It doesn't seem very complicated.

But, if you are Kevin Keith, shop manager at MV Student Transportation in St. Louis, a school bus—and the engine that powers it—is extremely important. That's why his fleet contains 66 vehicles with Caterpillar® C7 engines (190 horsepower) with ACERT™ Technology.

"We operate for 20 school districts and transport special needs children for all of the districts," says Keith. "Many of these children have special Individual Plans (IPs) established by doctors and school officials regarding how they can be transported and how each bus is set up. It's critical that our buses run properly and we can meet each child's needs."

Keith says the Caterpillar engines provide the reliability necessary to transport special needs children, especially during the frigid weather experienced in his area of the country. "The C7 is extremely reliable in the winter as far as cold starts," says Keith. "We don't have any problems with drivers starting Caterpillar engines on their own, which saves us considerable time and effort."

When Keith talks about Caterpillar engines he often uses the word "value" when developing bus specifications for the school district. That means developing the best bid to fit the district's specific needs.

"When I send out for bids I always recommend that the school district specifications include Caterpillar C7 engines," he says. "I find that Caterpillar engines aren't always the lowest cost, but the lifetime value and reliability of the engines outweigh the initial costs."

The Cat C7 meets the tougher 2004 EPA emissions regulations, which enables school bus riders to breathe a little easier. It also delivers up to 4 percent better fuel economy to help keep operating costs low. The standard warranty of 60 months/6,000 hours (parts, labor and towing) and 2,500 authorized locations for Caterpillar parts and service across North America also make Keith's job easier.

"Our support team here in St. Louis, Fabick Caterpillar, is excellent and their response time is almost immediate," Keith states. "That's extremely important when you consider the special passengers we are responsible for on a daily basis."

King County Transit Cites Reliability, Clean Air Advantages for Cat^® C9

When you provide public transportation for more than a million people per year, downtime isn't an option. Just ask George Stites of King County Metro Transit in Seattle, Wash.—with a bus on the road at four o'clock in the morning, every morning, and every two minutes after that for the next two hours, reliability is the top priority.

Stites, who serves as supervisor of fleet engineering for King County Metro Transit, has come to rely on Caterpillar^® engines for the on-time reliability his customers need.

"When we purchase a new transit fleet, we're looking for the products to put in that bus that are going to give us the best reliability we can get," he said. "The Cat C9 engine has done that for us—the reliability is just what we would expect from Cat."

King County Metro Transit is a regional transit operation throughout the Seattle area. The company runs a fleet of about 1,440 buses, with 282 60-foot articulated low-floor buses that are equipped with Caterpillar C9 engines with ACERT™ Technology. Of these, 236 are powered by hybrid engines, and 46 are conventional.

The current fleet was purchased to replace an older fleet that provided service through a tunnel that runs under downtown Seattle, so compliance with the EPA emissions regulations was a deciding factor in going with the Cat^® engine, according to Stites.

"This is by far the cleanest bus we have ever had," Stites said.

Issue 54 8/16/07
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