Matthews Buses Florida

Hillsborough Heroes
See the video below detailing the heroic efforts by Hillsborough County Schools Transportation Department utilizing their fleet of yellow buses and drivers to deliver food to the children of the county. Great to see new Superintendent, Addison Davis, leading the effort! Great work! Everyone at Matthews Bus Alliance and Rifled Air Conditioning Systems are proud to be Essential Businesses supporting the efforts of Hillsborough County in these challenging times.

Hillsborough County Public Schools posted on LinkedIn Hundreds of families across our county picked up FREE breakfast and lunch meals at our 23 school sites this morning. “I think this is a wonderful thing...

Knights in Shiny Yellow Armour!
3/19/2020

Levy District Schools to the rescue!

"The School Board of Levy County will provide meals at no cost to ALL children 18 years of age and under or to Students with Disabilities 21 years of age or under. This includes ALL children who attend private schools, charter schools, or home schools, children who do not yet attend school, children visiting family members, or children in families that are homeless.

Children must be present to receive meals. The meals are not available or provided to adults. Again, the goal is to feed ALL children......"

Joseph Wain

Coordinator of Transportation

School Board of Levy County

Levy County Transportation In Action!

School Board of Levy County serving our community

Lake Highland Preparatory School
3/4/2020

Conan Bickford and Craig Holloman accept delivery of one of their new Thomas C2’s from Glenn Matthews and Tim Bevier at the Matthews Bus Alliance headquarters in Orlando. These buses are powered by the Clean and Quiet Detroit DD5 engine. Lake Highland Prep students will stay cool with the RAC Max AC system on these buses. "Thanks for Choosing Matthews" LHP!

Washington District Celebrates Delivery
02/20/2020

Washington District staff attended the delivery of their latest order of 2020 Thomas C2 Saf-T-Liners for Transportation Specialist Dawn Spooner. The delivery was to the South location in Vernon Florida. The proud staff are left to right:
Steve Rudd, Mechanic; Sam Brady, Mechanic; Michael Israel, Driver; David Hodges, Driver; Grace Roche, Driver/Trainer; Pete Fenderson, MBA Account Manager and Mae Peterson, Monitor, Dawn Spooner, Washington County School District
Transportation Specialist

Orange County Loves The Bus
2/20/2020

OCPS staff show the love for their Thomas C2’s!
"Thanks for Choosing Matthews OCPS!"

Auto Reversing Door a New State Contract Option
February 17, 2020
By Whitney Kopanko

HIGH POINT, N.C. - Thomas Built Buses has introduced a new feature for some of its school buses: auto-reversing doors.

The first-of-its-kind feature is available on all versions of Thomas Built Buses’ Saf-T-Liner C2 and allows the front entry doors to reopen automatically if they sense an object or obstruction in the doorway, according to a news release from the school bus manufacturer. In operation, an audible alarm will sound and the doors will automatically reverse motion to return to the fully open position.

"Safety is our number-one priority, and even one incident of a child, backpack, or article of clothing getting caught in the entryway doors is one too many," said Caley Edgerly, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses. "While this new feature does not replace the need for drivers to be aware at all times, it is one more tool to assist in making sure that school buses remain the safest form of transportation to and from school."

In the event of damage to the stepwell, the auto-reversing door system is equipped with a manual bypass option that will disable the obstruction detection and allow the driver to complete their bus route, according to the school bus manufacturer. Disabling the auto-reverse feature reportedly does not prevent normal operation of the entrance door.

The auto-reversing door feature is now available for order on FL DOE ITB:2020-16.

Story originally published by SchoolBusFleet.com.

2020 ASBCA "Love The Bus" Event
2/5/2020

Matthews Bus Alliance helped support the American School Bus Council Association, "Love the Bus" gathering held just a few miles from our Orlando location at the Orange County Public Schools, NEW Pine Hills Maintenance garage. We showed our LOVE by putting on one of our famous Hot Dog Lunches for attendees. We also supplied a brand new 2020 Thomas, Saf-T-Liner C2 Demo, powered by the all NEW Detroit Diesel DD5 cleanest and most fuel efficient engine. This bus also showed off Florida’s best working and most reliable NEW Rifled Air Conditioning 3 compressor standard AC System. Kristin Radesca; Sales Coordinator, Brad Hull; Mobile Parts Manager, Glenn Matthews; Owner, Road Techs Marc Allen, David Wilson, William Ferraro, and Trainer, Ali Rampartab were on hand to lend support. Jed Routh; Vice President of Sales and Marketing attended on behalf of Thomas Built Buses. Bill Wenn, Kim Frye, and Morris Frye, are to be commended for hosting ASBCA and all attendees for such a great event at their amazing new Pine Hills facility. Everyone at TEAM Matthews are thankful for being invited to participate in this national "Love the Bus" Event.

Introducing Mobileye Collision Avoidance & Lane Departure Detection System!

As part of our continuing effort to promote school bus safety and positive driving habits, Matthews Bus Alliance is proud to be the exclusive provider of the Mobileye Collision Avoidance and Lane Departure Detection System for Florida School District Fleets. Check out the link below to watch a video on how this awesome system works!

www.carolinathomas.com

Palm Beach County 2020
1/31/2020

Bob Dolan; Matthews Bus Allianc's Business Development Manager, is pictured with Palm Beach County District Schools', Shane Searchwell; Director of Transportation, Carl Boucard; Fleet Director, and PBCS Transportation Team for the delivery of 90 Thomas C2 buses ordered in 2019. "Thanks for Choosing Matthews," again Palm Beach County!

Clay County Inspection/Open House
1/22/2020

Pictured: Clay County's Dr. Mike Kemp; Director of Operations, Derald Sweatt; Director of Transportation, Chris Dowell; Maintenance Supervisor, Glenn Matthews and Tim BeVier at the Matthews Bus Alliance Open House and their inspection of one of new 100 Thomas C2’s. "Thanks For Choosing Matthews," Clay County!

Clay County 2020 Delivery
1/30/2020

Derald Sweatt, Director of Transportation, accepts the first of 100 Thomas C2’s ordered from Team Matthews, Tim BeVier, Account Manager.

Pasco Takes Delivery of More DD5’s!
12/4/2020

Emmett Thompson, Supervisor of Transportation Maintenance, is pictured with a brand new 2020 Thomas C2 powered by the ULTRA Clean Detroit Diesel DD5 Motor. Pasco now has 76 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2’s powered by Detroit. Thanks For Demanding Detroit and "Choosing Matthews," Pasco County!

Bradford District Schools Chooses Matthews!
12/4/2020

Bradford District Schools Transportation Team show off their new 2020 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2’s and Team T’s. These are the first Thomas Built Buses ever delivered to Bradford from TEAM Matthews. Thank you Bradford for Choosing Matthews!

Alachua County Drivers Barbecue!
10/29/19

The Alachua County District Schools Transportation TEAM hosted a Barbecue Lunch sponsored by Matthews Bus Alliance. Superintendent, Karen Clark, Transportation Director, Reggie Thomas, and Director of Operations, Paul White honored Georgia Merriex with a plague and cake in honor of her years of service as a school bus driver for the district. Georgia is retiring this year.

First of 95 Marion C2 Deliveries
10/4/2019

Tim Bevier, Account Manager, congratulates Guy, "Chico," Moore, Fleet Director, on the first of their 95 NEW 2020 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 Buses with 6.7 Liter GREEN Cummins Diesel Engines. These buses will $ave Marion District Schools in Fuel over their life of 15 -20 years while reducing their carbon foot print immensely. These buses come standard with Matthews’ Rapid Response Warranty Service and Free On Site Training. Gatekeeper Cameras and Synovia GPS systems were installed by our new install partner Southern Transit in High Point, NC. Thanks for Choosing Matthews, Marion County!

On September 25th, Marion County Transportation Fleet Supervisor, Guy Moore, and Andy Nestor, inspect one of their 95 new 2020 Thomas Saf-TLiner C2 CLEAN DIESEL POWERED buses at our Orlando Pre-Delivery Facility. These buses include Rifled Air Conditioning Systems and Gatekeeper Camera Systems. In addition to inspecting the quality, fit and finish of the buses, the Marion team was able to verify the camera, radio, and GPS installations. As part of Choosing Matthews, customers are encouraged to visit our facility in order to do these pre-delivery day inspections to ensure the buses are ready to "Rock and Roll" upon delivery. These inspections are part of the Matthews Way and are available to ALL OUR CUSTOMERS. Thanks for Choosing Matthews Marion County!

The Pasco County Transportation Team of Christine Secone, Lyndsay D’Ascenzio, Robert Borsky, Emmett Thompson, and Tad Kledzik are pictured with MBA Business Development Manager, Bob Dolan at the Detroit Diesel factory where 40 of their New DD5 Diesel C2 Clean Bus Engines were built and 36 of their 2021 Clean Bus Engines will soon be built. Thanks for Demanding Detroit Pasco!

St. Lucie District Schools 2020 C2’s
Director of Transportation, Jacunti Prince Ephfrom, accepts delivery of one of their new 2020 C2’s from Account Manager, Tim BeVier. Thanks for "Choosing Matthews," St. Lucie!

Lee County District Schools Delivery - 8/20/2019

Tim Bevier, Account Representative (bus delivery driver for the day), Roger Loyd, Acting Director of Transportation, Logan Leonard, and Glenn Matthews stand in front of one brand new 2020 Thomas C2 of the 47 purchased from Matthews Bus Alliance. Thanks for Choosing Matthews 100% this year, Lee!

2020 Sarasota Delivery
The first of 22, 2020 Thomas C2 buses were delivered to Sarasota County District Schools. This was one of 10 Detroit Diesel DD5 powered C2’s, and will save the district 10% in Diesel fuel by doing what the bus is designed to do each and every day - deliver kids to and from school, safely and reliably. Pictured is Bob Dolan, Business Development Manager, and Jason Harris, New Transportation Director. Sarasota District Schools has Chosen Matthews for the past 11 years!

Check out this rockin' video from Thomas Built Buses!

We Are Thomas - Thomas Built Buses https://thomasbuiltbuses.com/ We are the men and women who make it safe for the children of North America to go to school. We are Thomas Loud! We are Thomas ...

Arby Creach the Rock Star!

Lori Matthews presented 6 Matthews Bus Alliance Built six-strings to the Osceola County Schools Music Department at the Transportation Department’s kick off luncheon. Building these guitars was part of team building exercises at our "Rock and Roll" Employee Appreciation Day, held July 24th at our Orlando, Florida Headquarters. Hopefully these guitars will inspire some future Rock and Rollers!

Fuel for Thought July Newsletter - Million Mile Coolant Alliance Truck Parts has added nitrite-free Organic Additive Technology (OAT) and nitrited Organic Additive Technology (NOAT) extended-life coolant/antifreeze products to its coolant line. Specially formulated for severe-duty applications, the company says they’re designed to reduce the total cos...

Soldiers' Angels was proud to host a mobile food distribution on Friday July 19th. This event was in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and the Orlando VA Medical Center and the Elks Lodge serving Orlando area low-income veterans and their families.

2019 FAPT Summer Tech Workshop

Ali Rampartab, Platinum Award Winning Trainer, Matthews Bus Alliance, and Eddie Greg, Thomas Built Buses provided technician training at the 2019 FAPT Summer Tech Workshop in Daytona Beach, FL. Thank you to the majority of the technicians at the event for "Choosing Matthews" to receive their training this year.

Nassau County's Clinton Owens and Greg Bennett, Fleet Technicians, accept delivery of their new 2020 THOMAS C2’s from Tim Bevier, Account Representative, MBA.
"Thanks for Choosing Matthews," Nassau!

Volusia County took delivery of one of their 24 new 2020 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2’s at their end of year celebration. The entire Volusia County Transportation staff was able to witness the quality that goes into each and every new Thomas Bus delivery from Team Matthews.

"On behalf of the Student Transportation Services Team for the Volusia County School District, I want to thank you for being a part of year ending recertification and training earlier today. As you know, our theme was the Blues Brothers, "Everybody Needs Somebody". That can be applied in many different ways and in our professional relationship with Matthews Bus Alliance, we have many reasons to be grateful that we have connected with you and your top rate organization." Mitch Moyer, Director.

Glenn Matthews, President/CEO, guest speaker at the event showed the "Every Mile Matters" and Dale Earnhardt, Jr Driver Appreciation video’s found in the video section of this web site as part of his presentation. After all it is Daytona, Fl!

Thank you Volusia County for having us and "Choosing Matthews!"

Check out our May Fuel for Thought Newsletter on the Cummins "Stay Warm" DPF Feature!

Fuel for Thought May Newsletter