ANOTHER question !:(

[Yukon Cornelius-SKO]

this week there were 4 buses in Saskatchewan, all on propane, one with the 8.1 ( l believe it was ) GM motor, and the other 3 with 454's in them - all at very reasonable prices - time and money constraints kept me from bidding on one of the 454's - the 8.1 was gone before I received notice it was for sale - lol - l'm guessing they were being sold by a school board or a transportation contractor

A fair amount of School districts in the north, and some in the prairies went back to gassers for a bit. As they didn't have dozer sheds or hangars to store all rigs inside during the winter, and "they" deemed it more economical, efficient, and reliable to have a fleet of gassers. I suspect it was also not a coincidence that this happened a few years before AB NDP when the energy sector had sucked up the vast majority of the diesel mechs with any med-heavy experience.

 

[cadillackid]

Gasoline busses are once again coming back into play... with VVT and modern fuel injection technology the engines can produce ver ysimilar torque curves to Diesels.. while longevity still is yet to be determined on the likes of the newest engines.. the GM 8.8 and ford 7.3 (brand new gasser).. most people I know running school bus fleets dtate that previously 95% of their busses were being retired with lots of life left in the engines (obviously massive failures not withstanding).. so that they feel gassers will be more economical than diesels in both maintenance and fuel. for the life that they keep their busses.. a couple fleet managers i know of are not buying any diesels this year or next.. propane and CNG are still considered Niche fuels.. some districts have access to low-cost or recieve large grants for alternative fuels so they buy propane or CNG busses..




-Christopher

 

[Yukon Cornelius-SKO]

Gasoline busses are once again coming back into play... with VVT and modern fuel injection technology the engines can produce ver ysimilar torque curves to Diesels.. while longevity still is yet to be determined on the likes of the newest engines.. the GM 8.8 and ford 7.3 (brand new gasser).. most people I know running school bus fleets dtate that previously 95% of their busses were being retired with lots of life left in the engines (obviously massive failures not withstanding).. so that they feel gassers will be more economical than diesels in both maintenance and fuel. for the life that they keep their busses.. a couple fleet managers i know of are not buying any diesels this year or next.. propane and CNG are still considered Niche fuels.. some districts have access to low-cost or recieve large grants for alternative fuels so they buy propane or CNG busses..




-Christopher

Completely agree.. we just seemed to be "ahead" of the curve for 4-8yrs.... tho I think it was more accidental than a stroke of genius... this seemed to have occurred approximately somewhere between 1 and 2 fleets ago.. And currently every school bus in my neck of the woods is diesel again, and its not just the school board driving "school" buses