February 21, 2014, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – Showing its ongoing commitment to passenger safety and customer support, Leonard Bus Sales sponsored and hosted a special training session this week with the Capital Region Head Mechanics Association and personnel from the New York State Department of Transportation. The session, held at jointly at the Leonard Bus Sales facility in Saratoga Springs and at the Saratoga Springs School District transportation facility, attracted more than 150 transportation supervisors and school bus technicians from districts throughout the capital region.
“We’re delighted to host this gathering, bringing together the technicians who work on these buses every day and the state inspectors charged with overseeing bus safety,” said Leonard Bus Sales Fixed Operations Director Chris O’Hara. “We have a great working relationship with the Head Mechanics Association chapters, and with their members at local school districts. We also want to send special thanks to Chuck Tanzer, Saratoga Springs City Schools’ Fleet Maintenance Supervisor, for his help hosting this event. At Leonard Bus Sales, we see sponsoring important events like this as just another way to support our school district partners.”
The main focus of the gathering was training technicians for Department of Transportation inspections. Certified trainers and NYSDOT inspectors were stationed at 10 training stations throughout the Leonard Bus Sales facility garage. Additional training stations were held nearby, at the Saratoga Springs City School District transportation facility. Training stations also focused on other key skills, including DPF maintenance and cleaning, cold weather operations, wheelchair lift maintenance, and parts lookup and identification.
After the morning training session, the Capital Region Head Mechanics Association held their member meeting at the Leonard Bus Sales facility. The gathering was just the latest example of Leonard Bus Sales and local Head Mechanics Association chapters working together to promote safety in the school bus industry.
Technicians and school officials from across capital region visit one of many training stations.
New York State DoT inspectors walk attendees through the inspection procedure.
Other stations focused on DPF maintenance and cleaning, cold weather operations, wheelchair lift maintenance, and more.
Leonard Bus Sales, Inc. is owned and operated by the Leonard family, a recognized leader in the distribution and support of quality, environmentally-friendly school and commercial buses. A third generation family-owned business, Leonard Bus Sales has nearly 50 years of experience providing cost-saving fleet management and award-winning customer support. Leonard Bus Sales is a leading-distributor of IC BusTM brand buses in Upstate New York. The company also distributes Type-A school and commercial buses from Trans Tech throughout New York and Type-A commercial buses from Champion Bus in Upstate New York. The company is headquartered in Deposit, NY and operates four full-service facilities in Bergen, Rome, Saratoga Springs and a Trans Tech Type-A facility in Garden City Park, N.Y. — www.leonardbus.com.