IC Bus (originally IC Corporation ) is an American bus manufacturer that produces yellow school buses and commercial buses (shuttle buses) primarily to the United States and Canada, with limited exports outside of America North. Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar International. The company was founded by Navistar in 2002 through the reorganization of a subsidiary bus company American Transportation Corporation (AmTran). Through AmTran, the IC traced its roots back to the establishment of Body Works in 1933 in Conway, Arkansas.
The company name IC stands for I ntegrated C oach, referring to how the vehicle is almost completely assembled under one company structure. For all IC vehicles, Navistar manufactures bus bodies and chassis, while engines are supplied by Cummins (diesel/CNG) and PSI (gasoline/propane). Currently, all IC Bus vehicles are manufactured at its manufacturing facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma; since 2010, the former AmTran/Ward manufacturing facility in Conway, Arkansas is still used for the fabrication and production of spare parts.
Video IC Bus
History
2000s: AmTran to IC
The transition from a bus manufacturing subsidiary of Navistar began in 2000 when AmTran introduced a new generation of cowled-chasis chassis. While still based on International 3800 and sharing many body parts with its predecessor AmTran Volunteer/CS, the new bus features a redesigned driver compartment and a larger windshield. The new bus is named IC International (IC stand for Integrated Coach/Chassis), this model emphasizes how all vehicles (body, chassis, engine) are manufactured under one company entity. To distinguish IC from other Type C buses that share the 3800 International chassis, ICs are grille and hood badging themselves.
After 2000, AmTran Corporation changed its name to Truck and International Bus, making it in line with Navistar's truck manufacturing division (later International Truck and Engine); AmTran FE (Front Engine) and AmTran RE (Rear Engine) line models adopt international brand names and badging. For 2003, International re-branded its bus subsidiary to IC Corporation. After a small update, IC International was re-stamped CE-Series IC, in line with FE and RE-Series buses.
In the mid-2000s, IC saw a number of changes. When Navistar introduced its first cowled chassis since 1979 with International 3300 (a cowled-chassis of International 4300/Durastar), IC introduced the new generation CE-Series in 2005. In 2006, the BE Series was the second IC-type bus based on 3300; although similar in configuration to CE, the low-floor flat BE profiles are designed for smaller bus users; the highest capacity is 30 passengers.
While the Ward/AmTran commercial products really came from their school bus body variants, in 2006, IC launched two new product ranges for commercial customers, paratransit, and shuttle buses. In addition to commercial variants BE, CE, and RE, IC launched two cutaway-cab product lines based on Durastar International. HC-Series is a variety of shuttle bus while LC-Series is a low-floor bus intended for paratransit customers.
In April 2009, IC Corporation changed its name to IC Bus.
2010s: Product adaptation
2010 marks the major transition from IC product line. Within a year, the company ended production of one of its highest-capacity vehicles while introducing its first small school bus. The FE-Series was removed from the IC product line, as dealers announced a halt in April and the company removed its product literature from the IC Bus website. Furthermore, the only Type D bus in the IC product line is the RE-Series rear engine. International Truck TerraStar Class 4/5 forms the basis of two new models introduced by the company. The AC-Series was introduced as a commercial shuttle bus (competing with van-based bus), while the AE Series became the first cutaway-cab school bus produced by the company since the termination of AmTran Vanguard in 1996.
In mid 2010, IC Bus experience changes to stabilize the model line. To re-emphasize the relationship with its parent company, the IC Bus modifies branding in 2013, for the 2014 model year, adds Navistar script to its IC Bus "wings" logo. To focus on its core model line, AE/AC-Series, BE-Series and LC-Series are discontinued in 2014. Currently (in model year 2017), CE and RE-Series/MFSAB school buses and commercial derivatives are produced simultaneously with commercial shuttle bus HC-Series (based on Durastar truck).
Navistar is the only US based diesel engine manufacturer to pursue the use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to control diesel emissions rather than selective catalytic reductions (SCR), touting gains in the overall fluid economy (measuring urea combined consumption), although tests previously showing fuel economy gains that were decided by SCR. Tighter emission controls led to increased bus prices in 2010. In response to the failure of the controversial EGR emission strategy to meet emission standards, the MaxxForce engine was removed in the CE Series, with Cummins ISB6.7 essentially taking the place of both diesel engines before it was introduced as an option on 2013. By 2015, IC debuted the first alternative fuel vehicle, demonstrating the propane-powered CE Series with a 8.8L V8 PSI engine. In 2016, the same engine was introduced in a gasoline-fueled configuration. A Cummins L9 8.9L Diesel option was introduced for the RE Series for the 2017 model year, and the Cummins B6.7 option was added for the year 2018 model year, replacing the dead Maxxforce Diesel option. Cummins are often mistaken as MaxxForce, but are made by two different companies and have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Maps IC Bus
Products
School bus/commercial
- Model design
Prior to 2010, IC used the following nomenclature (on the school bus) to designate the type of machine; Furthermore, only the model prefix is ​​used.
Future direction
Forward Advantage Prototype
IC FE Forward Advantage is a school bus prototype built by IC in 2008 as a testbed of a flat-floor design at stepwell due to the compact design of the Caterpillar C7 engine. It also includes some modifications to the front-end styling that is influenced by the International heavy truck service line. When Caterpillar withdrew from producing diesel engines for the school bus market, Forward Advantage will not see production in its current form because its design is tailored to Caterpillar engines.
Hybrid electric diesel bus
IC offers diesel-electric hybrid powertrains in the conventional CE school bus as an option. The buses provide about 40% to 65% better fuel economy but cost about two and a half times more than the standard diesel bus ($ 210,000 versus $ 80,000).
Enova Systems signed a long-term supply agreement with IC Bus that ensures that Enova's proprietary Electrical Drive Post-Transmission system will be used in the bus bus IC Bus electrical bus. The hybrid school bus project eliminates the load of Enova (or "plug-in") or cost support systems. The drivetrain is powered by a lithium ion battery phosphate battery valence module. The braking system uses both regenerative braking as a means to reduce wear on the service brakes and to supply batteries with extra power.
Prototype Motorcoach
At the American Public Transportation Association Expo 2008 trade fair, Navistar announced its intention to enter the intercity motorcycle segment in 2010, launching two prototypes produced by IC Bus. Using a MaxxForce 13 powerplant, the IC Bus produces a 40-foot prototype alongside a 45-foot prototype. Using wind tunnel design, the company predicts a similar increase in fuel efficiency seen with the ProStar International semitractor.
Following two prototypes, IC Bus left its business in the motorcoach segment, focusing its commercial bus on school bus derivatives and HC-Series (a freelance variant of International DuraStar).
Electric bus
On November 7, 2017, the IC Bus announced a chargE, an all-electric CE Series bus that delivered up to 260 kilowatts (350 hp) in power using Volkswagen Truck & amp; Electric bus drivetrain common group provided by Group. This is the second electric vehicle to be shipped from the Navistar-Volkswagen alliance. Estimates are predicted to be available by 2019.
Assembly
All IC Corporation/IC Bus vehicles were manufactured at the Tulsa, Oklahoma facility, opened by AmTran in 1999. Prior to 2008, the Type D model was manufactured at the Ward/AmTran facility in Conway, Arkansas.
IC Corporation announced the potential for layoffs of up to 500 workers at Conway's plant (employing about 1,000) in June 2007. Demand for school buses was influenced by price increases in the 2007 model due to tighter emission regulations. The school district increased their purchase of the 2006 model bus, which was $ 5,000 to $ 7,000 lower than the 2007 model bus, and the Conway plant produces about 30 buses per day, down from 50 buses per day during peak demand. Although the company later announced no layoffs would occur in 2007, layoffs materialized on January 11, 2008, when IC Corporation announced layoffs of about 300 employees at Conway, Arkansas Bus Plant. This is just under the maximum proportion of employees that can be dismissed in Conway without the company violating the WARNING Act, which requires the employer to give 60 days notice of mass layoffs or factory closures. In addition to the layoffs, the company also announced a 50 percent reduction in bus production at Conway plant. IC Corp. officials calling the lack of new orders as a reason for layoffs. However, the company recently announced increased production at its plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This sparked fears at Conway that the company plans to close the plant in the near future and move all production to a newer, unenclosed factory in Tulsa.
170 more workers were laid off at the Conway plant in March 2009. At that time, production had slowed to 16 buses per day, and after layoffs, "large order cancellations" resulted in production dropping to 8 buses per day. On 5 November 2009, IC Bus announced that the Conway plant will no longer make the bus after January 18, 2010, projecting the removal of 477 jobs. Conway facility will function as a store manufacturer and make parts, but will no longer produce complete buses. The company cited low demand by school districts and contractors during the economic recession in the United States. "We have to consolidate our bus assembly operations into one facility," Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said. "Unfortunately for Conway, Tulsa is a much newer facility." Navistar sells Conway property in 2014.
On June 5, 2012, Tulsa Bus Assembly Factory, Oklahoma IC produces 100,000 vehicles. Workers at Tulsa plant join United Auto Workers in 2013. Conway property acquired by DBG Canada Ltd., a spare parts manufacturer for heavy truck industry, by 2017, and DBG announced it will convert Conway into the US headquarters.
See also
- AmTran - the company's predecessor
- Navistar International - parent company
References
External links
- ICBus.com - the official company website
- Media related to IC Bus school bus in Wikimedia Commons
- "RE School Series Bus" (PDF) . National Bus. 2010 . Retrieved January 3 2018 .
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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