Firm in school bus case recalled 22,000 vehicles
THE US firm looking to muscle into the € 150m- a- year Irish school bus market has been forced to recall more than 22,000 vehicles due to brake, fire and other safety problems, the Irish Independent has learned.
IC Bus Corporation, which is bankrolling a High Court challenge aimed at forcing the Department of Education to put its school transport contract out to tender, has issued six safety recalls since March 2010 following a number of scares across North America.
The company manufactures the iconic yellow school buses used widely across the US and plans to build a manufacturing plant here if its legal challenge is successful.
However, the massive recall is likely to fuel concerns over the company's safety record ahead of any possible tender for the Irish contract.
Details provided by the US Department of Transportation show that IC Bus has recalled some 22,571 school buses in the past two years, along with more than 18,000 buses designed for the commercial market.
Documents seen by the Irish Independent show:
Almost 15,500 school buses built between 2006 and 2011 were recalled in August last year after electrical problems which could have resulted in a fire.
Another 5,000 were recalled in March 2010 because of concerns about its parking brake, which could have resulted in the bus suddenly shifting position.
920 buses are in the process of being repaired after it emerged that using the vehicles in ‘ extremely cold conditions' could result in a leakage in the air brakes, resulting in them being continuously applied.
Some 677 buses were recalled last February because latches used to fit the seat to the frame of the bus were not working properly.
Another 500 were recalled in July last year because of electrical problems ( 431 in total) and a failure to properly install reflective tape ( 70) which failed safety standards.
Support
IC Bus Corporation is part of Navistar International, a Fortune 500 company which has revenues of $14bn (€10.7bn) a year.
The company has confirmed it is providing “financial support” and “assistance” to a company called Student Transport Scheme Ltd ( STS), headed by
The company manufactures the iconic yellow school buses used widely across the US and plans to build a manufacturing plant here
businessman Tim Doyle and Galway solicitor Brian Lynch, which has mounted a High Court challenge aimed at forcing the Department of Education to put the school bus transport contract out to tender.
STS has promised that its partner, IC Bus Corporation, will build a bus- manufacturing facility if it wins the legal challenge and is awarded the school bus contract.
A second US company called Trailways is also part- funding the legal action. It runs more than 8,000 student buses across the US.
Bus Eireann has been given the contract automatically by the Department of Education since the late 1960s and is responsible for taking more than 110,000 children to school each day. STS claims that, under EU law, the contract should be put out to tender. The case is due before the Commercial Court in June.
Navistar said yesterday that every one of its buses met US safety standards and was designed and manufactured with student safety as a “primary goal”.
It added that recalls were not an “unusual occurrence”, and the company’s record was “no different” from its competitors.
“By our estimates, 95pc of all recalls on school buses in the US are done proactively, by choice,” said a spokeswoman.
A spokesman for Bus Eireann said it was not clear if the buses would be suitable for use here, and if private operators – which are paid € 100m of the € 150m annual budget – would have to use them.
He added that providing transport for children with special needs cost € 50m a year.