BLUE BIRD'S HOPES RIDE ON THIS BUS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 4, 1992                   TAG: 9202040112
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLYNE H. McWILLIAMS
DATELINE: BUENA VISTA                                LENGTH: Medium
BLUE BIRD'S HOPES RIDE ON THIS BUS
Workers at Blue Bird East figure they're doing more than simply producing school buses. With today's launch of the new TC/2000 model, Blue Bird managers say they may have found a way to prevent more layoffs at the factory.
The TC/2000 is a transit-style bus, meaning it looks more like city buses than traditional big-nosed school buses. The new model seats about 78 and allows better handling and more visibility. It was developed after a nationwide survey of school districts and distributors in 1985 asked what would make buses safer.
The first of the new series rolled off the assembly line last week and the company will mark the event with a public ceremony today.
Joe Doby, vice president and general manager of the division of Georgia-based Blue Bird Body Co., said he hopes production of the new bus will help maintain the plant's present level of employment.
Blue Bird had to lay off 35 employees at the end of August because of the economy. The company now employs 200 people and Doby said that is a comfortable number, but whether it changes depends on the market.
"It's a little more to do, but nothing drastic," said Steve Campbell during a break in his 10-hour shift installing wire molding on buses. Campbell, who has been at the plant for 19 years, said the new bus makes him feel more confident about his job.
The company produces three sizes of buses. About 95 percent of them are for school districts in the Northeast. Others go to Alaska and are exported to places such as Saudia Arabia and South America.
The local plant, opened in 1972, produces about 300 buses a month.
It took about two weeks to produce the first TC/2000, compared to a week building a conventional bus. Doby said the slower pace was necessary in transition to make sure everything is correct.
The first TC/2000s were produced in Georgia in 1987. They also are being made at plants in Iowa, Canada and Georgia.
Doby said their production at Buena Vista had to wait until their advantages had been marketed to customers. He said there now is a backlog of orders for the new bus, although he would not give an exact number.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB