November 12, 2014, Canandaigua, N.Y. – Leonard Bus Sales hosted its semi-annual New York Customer Advisory Panel meeting recently at Bristol Harbour Resort in Canandaigua. The gathering brings together school transportation officials from across New York State for a chance to exchange ideas, discuss issues and share best practices. It also gives members a chance to talk about product improvements with engineers, technicians and experts from both IC Bus and Leonard Bus Sales.
“This is always such a great gathering, both for our transportation partners and for everyone at Leonard Bus Sales and IC Bus,” said Leonard Bus Sales CEO Mike Leonard. “This is the foundation for the ongoing dialogue and relationship that makes it possible for us to offer the best support in the industry. It’s truly an invaluable part of our relationship.”
The fall gathering of the New York Customer Advisory Panel attracted representatives from more than ten school districts, and featured an address by IC Bus Vice President & General Manager Trish Reed. Also in attendance were IC Bus President John McKinney, IC Bus Chief Product Specialist Himanshu (Mash) Angolkar, Navistar Vehicle Platform Chief Engineer Michael Fergestad, and Navistar Engine Sales Support and Training Director Randy Ray.
The School districts represented were Churchville-Chili CSD, Grand Island CSD, South Jefferson CSD, Pembroke CSD, Honeoye Falls-Lima CSD, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake CSD, Brushton-Moira CSD, Hilton CSD, Lancaster CSD, Wappingers CSD and Massena CSD. The program also included discussion of Leonard Bus Sales’ training program, an IC Bus’s Powertrain Update, and a customer roundtable.
The New York advisory panel was originally designed by the Leonard team to provide a forum for direct input from school officials to the bus manufacturer on product issues, future design decisions, manufacturing methods, new technologies, and industry trends. Similar meetings are held in other states, including ones organized by sister company LBS South in Florida.
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.