Burns Truck and Bus
2517 Cherry Rd. Rock Hill, SC 29732Sales: (866) 891-4209
Dealership News
Burns Selected As Federal Coach Bus Distributor!
01-20-10
Burns Truck and Bus Sales has been selected as a regional distributor for Federal Coach Bus, a division of Forest River Inc. Burns was asked to join Forest River, because of our increased volume of bus sales year over year, and our record of customer satisfaction. Forest River recently purchased Federal Coach, and has moved production from Arkansas to it's plant in Indiana. Federal Coach has long been known as one of the best built buses in the industry, and Forest River plans to keep the original design standards and upgraded building materials in the new bus models, but also plans to add some more modern options. We have our first 15 buses on order now, which will begin arriving at our dealership in April 2010. Please schedule a visit, and see how the new standard in the bus industry is built!
New Staff Additions
Burns Truck and Bus has added two new bus sales specialists, living and working in the Raleigh NC area, Fred Joyner and Ramon Barreras. Fred has multiple years of experience in the bus industry, many of them working for manufacturers. Ramon has several years experience in the automotive industry, and to help assist our Spanish speaking customers, Ramon is bi-lingual. They work together, and have buses available to demonstrate in the NC area.
MFSAB Buses
You may wonder why your church should purchase a bus, and get rid of the old 8, 12 or 15 passenger van. Hands down, a bus is a safer alternative. Most are built with crash avoidance in mind, but in the event that a crash were to occur, they are built to better protect the occupants. They are built to high safety standard, but as with any product, some are more safe than others. As an example, a bus with dual rear wheels is far more stable than a bus with single rear wheels, and less likely to loose control. While a dual rear wheel MFSAB has no advantage over a standard church bus as far as maintaining control, the MFSAB has much greater interior occupant protection - so if a crash happens, there is less of a chance of injury. Just as the school systems had to switch to certified buses to satisfy insurance requirements, many church organizations now find that they are paying higher insurance premiums to drive an unsafe van...if they can even get insurance on one.
MFSAB - What is it?
MFSAB stands for Multi-Function School Activity bus, and is a term used by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), other government agencies, as well as through-out the bus industry, and is a designation generally given to buses which meet stringent government safety standards, have been through the crash testing procedures, have specific equipment included in their construction, and are certified to carry children to and from school and school related activities. They are also generally regarded as the safest mass transportation option, and are preferred over non-conforming passenger vans, which are regarded as having a higher causality rate in the event of a loss of control or crash with another vehicle. Laws vary from state to state, as well as insurance restrictions concerning non-conforming vans.
The information below applies on a national level, and applies to schools only. Additionally, many states have laws and restrictions more severe with regards to schools, and includes child daycares and church organizations. Please check your laws on a local level. FACT SHEET As a result of the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and the School Bus Safety Amendments of 1974, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the Department of Transportation, issued 34 Federal motor vehicle safety standards which apply to school buses. With respect to school buses, Congress has directed NHTSA to require school bus manufacturers to meet more safety standards than apply to passenger vans and other buses. The following are facts related to non-conforming vans (vehicles designed by the manufacturer to transport more than ten persons including the driver that do not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards [FMVSSs]:
While school districts may see a cost savings in purchasing and using non-conforming vans for school-related activities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the National Association for Pupil Transporation Services (NAPT) and the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) believe that, while comparably-sized school buses may be more expensive than conventional buses, the increased level of safety justifies a higher cost. Insurance Issues With Vans There is good news and bad news when it comes to church transportation. The bad news is that the 15-passenger van, long used to haul children to youth retreats and shuttle seniors to Sunday lunch, is about to go the way of the nun’s habit.
Since 1990, more than 420 people have been killed, and thousands more seriously injured, in rollovers and collisions in the top-heavy, thin-sided vehicles. GuideOne Insurance, one of the nation’s largest insurers of churches, reviewed just five accidents between 1999 and 2001 involving 15-passenger vans belonging to policyholders. Those accidents claimed the lives of 11 people, seriously injured more than 20 and resulted in $4.3 million in claims.
"Passenger vans were built from cargo vans", said Richard Anderson with Burns Bus Sales in Rock Hill SC. "The manufacturers took cargo vans, added some seats to them, and churches bought them, not knowing the dangers involved. It's amazing that it has taken so long for the the government to tighten down the use of vans, and that the insurance industry has taken so long to say enough is enough." Insurance companies are only part of the challenge. Federal and state law also is turning up the heat. "Several years ago, the federal law outlawed 15 passenger vans for use in transporting children to and from school activities or church activities," said Jim Elliott, national sales manager for Collins Industries, a bus manufacturer in Hutchinson, Kan. Elliott was referring to the Motor Vehicle Safety Amendments Act of 1974, which prohibits dealers from selling new, 10 or more passenger vans to any public or private daycare or school unless the vehicle meets federal school bus safety standards. The law, which carries a $1,000 fine for each barred sale, does not apply to used passenger vans, nor does it preclude schools from using them. According to the Christian Law Association, many states have passed laws prohibiting or restricting their use. Other states allow them to be used as a school bus under certain conditions. CLA recommends ministries research the law in their state. Though as many as 600,000 15-passenger vans are in use, most industry experts anticipate the vans will be history within a few years.
"Trading In, Trading Up What’s leadership to do if the church van becomes too expensive to insure or is even prohibited from use? Many congregations are turning to the mini-bus, a 15-26 passenger conveyance designed for comfort, safety and-relatively speaking-good looks. Models seating 14 passengers and a driver range from about $40,000 to $50,000, depending upon options and whether the engine is gas or diesel. A 26-seat mini-bus ranges from $50,000 to about $56,000. A Type A school bus seating 22 passengers ranges from about $35,000 to $54,000, according to Elliott. Used prices range from about $12,000 to $30,000, with lower-mileage vehicles coming in at the top of the range. The majority of the used buses five years old or newer come from the transit market. Churches tend to keep their vehicles much longer. So how are churches spending their money for vehicles? "They buy the mini-bus. They buy the van chassis, but it has more of an airport-shuttle shell," Anderson said. "Some people call them ‘people movers,’ but we just call them mini-buses. We outfit them as much as we can to make them comfortable and to give them some tour-bus quality features." Elliott said many churches are looking to buy the Type A school bus because it offers safety (a 1996 National Safety Council study determined school buses to be the safest form of transportation available) and value. "We've come up with some very attractive pricing on these buses," Elliott said. "We sell them anywhere from the mid-$30,000s on the 14-passenger variety, which is not much more than the vans." He describes them as very safe and able to last up to 15 years. Elliot said the buses often come with attractive leasing options-a fact stemming in part from the nature of the vehicles and their use.
"One, they are safe. Two, churches maintain them magnificently," he said. Third, church users "don't drive them that many miles compared to a school bus," which means the buses come off lease with relatively few miles." "There's a ready market for that used bus with five years and 20,000 miles," Elliot said. "I get 20 calls a week from people looking for that kind of used vehicle they can put back into service to replace a van." "Another issue confronting churches is once leadership decides to invest in a bus, what is it going to do with the old van, which when new may have cost up to $25,000.
Bus dealers, who stand to benefit from the changeover, have no use for the vehicles and are encouraging churches to remove the seats and sell them as cargo vans. A good sales suggestion is posting notices at home improvement and contractor outlets, where they may find a reasonable buyer’s market. Those types of people understand what is going on and they’re picking up some great deals.They’re still paying a good price for a nice church van.
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"It's amazing that it has taken so long for the the government to tighten down the use of vans, and that the insurance industry has taken so long to say enough is enough"Burns Selected As Safety Van Dealer
Burns Truck and Bus Sales has been selected as a distributor for Safety Vans. The Safety Van is considered to be the highest quality and safest full size passenger van on the road today. Built on the Chevrolet Express with Stabilitrak, side head curtain airbags, new three layer safety glass, a steel reinforced cage, a raised reinforced roof, and bus style seating, these vans are sure to be a hit for those customers who just don't want a full sized bus, but still want the safety aspects of a bus.