With a fleet of 639 school buses, our drivers log in a combined 10,207,680 miles in a school year. That equates to 56,709.3 miles driven daily, or the equivalent of driving around the equator of the earth a little more than 2 times every day of the school year.
With the ever changing price of fuel, depletion of our natural resources and amount of miles travelled annually, we are always looking for more economical as well as environmentally friendly options to keep our wheels turning and improve the performance of our vehicle fleet.
Advances in diesel exhaust after-treatment technology have allowed us to reduce our emissions footprint. This, combined with the use of CNG (compressed natural gas), and propane powered buses give us workable alternatives that will further decrease our need for conventional fuels and reduce our impact on the environment. We continue to explore other alternatives such as Hybrid (diesel-propane), and electrical technologies to get the most performance for our vehicle dollar.
In addition to our 639 school buses, our fleet also contains 468 cars and trucks. This includes the use of hybrid vehicles such as the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu in our energy management department and administrative vehicles.
Synthetic motor oils and long life coolants are now being used in our fleet services to help increase fuel mileage, increase engine life, and reduce our waste oil/coolant output. Fuels such as ethanol blended gasoline, propane, and ultra-low sulfur diesel are also being used. We have also partnered with other government agencies within the county to provide propane fueling stations to help support our alternative fuel vehicles. Continued advances in petroleum products as well as our continued use of alternative fuel technologies will help to ensure that our vehicles make economic as well as environmental sense.
All operators of district-owned vehicles should adhere to the following practices when operating a school-district owned vehicle.
Finally, remind all operators that district-owned vehicles should be used for district business only. Other than using for transportation to mid-day meals, employees should refrain from conducting personal business while operating a district owned vehicle. We should not be using them for personal use.
Click here to download the Fuel Saving Tips Document
Click here to contact the Department of Vehicle and Safety Services