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2 (Conway, Arkansas and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania)
Area served
North America
Products
School Buses Commercial Buses
Ward Body Works (also known as Ward Industries and Ward School Bus Manufacturing, Inc.) was an American bus manufacturer. Headquartered in Conway, Arkansas, Ward specialized in yellow school buses, alongside buses for other uses. Founded in 1933 by D.H. "Dave" Ward, the company was family-owned for nearly its entire existence.
Among several innovations, Ward was the first manufacturer to perform a rollover test on a school bus, leading to changes in school bus body design.[1] Ward would also become the first school bus manufacturer to assemble buses on an assembly line.[2]
In 1980, Ward filed for bankruptcy and was reorganized as American Transportation Corporation (AmTran) keeping the Ward brand name in use on school buses. In 1991, AmTran was acquired by Navistar International, with the Ward name phased out during 1992. Today, International produces school buses using its IC Bus subsidiary (the successor to AmTran).
History
D. H. "Dave" Ward founded Ward Body Works in Conway, Arkansas, in 1933 when he "lowered the roof of a wooden bus for Mr. Carl Brady of the Southside Schools". Southside Schools were located about 15 miles north of Conway.[3] A blacksmith by trade, Ward grew his business primarily on body repair of bus bodies in the area.[4] In 1936, he built his first complete school bus body. One of the first manufacturers of the time to use all-metal construction, the first school bus made by Ward Body Works featured removable safety-glass windows and perimeter and center-mounted seating.[4]
In 1939, the company opened a 10,000 square-foot factory in Conway, Arkansas.[4] During World War II, along with supplying buses for the military, Ward built over 1000 different bodies of various types for the GMC CCKW cargo truck.[4] Following the war, the company became one of the first bus manufacturers to expand outside of the United States, opening a facility in Mexico City in 1947; bus bodies from Conway would be shipped to Mexico to be placed on chassis for use internationally.[4] To expand capacity inside the United States, a second facility was opened in Austin, Texas in 1951.[4][5]
Despite expanding to 100,000 square feet, the original Ward factory in Conway was too small to keep up with demand; the company built an even larger factory outside of the city in 1954; at any given time, 45 bus bodies could be on the 1,500-foot-long assembly line, producing up to 100 complete buses weekly.[5] Later in the 1950s, the company moved beyond its school bus roots, adding mass-transit and sightseeing buses to its product lineup.[5] Due to importation issues, the Ward factory in Mexico was closed in 1954.
In 1956, Ward became both a body manufacturer and an industry supplier, as the company created a subsidiary, C.S. Sash Company, which became a major aluminum window frame manufacturer for school buses.[4][5]
In the 1960s, Ward School Bus Manufacturing, Inc. began a series of updates that would modernize manufacturing and production. To catalog the various state and local regulations affecting school bus specifications, in 1964, company owner Charles Ward set up a computer mainframe (using IBM 360s).[1] In the same year, Ward performed the first independent rollover test on a school bus, discovering issues related to structural integrity.[2] During 1967, the assembly line in the Conway facility was upgraded to a moving assembly line, a first in the bus industry.[2] In 1969, the recommendations from the crash test were published, finding that an inconsistent number of fasteners among manufacturers could lead to poor joint strength.[1] The findings would be used in part to government recommendations for school bus joint strength.[2] Following the 1968 retirement of Dave Ward, Ward Body Works remained a family-owned company, with son Charles Ward handling operations.
During the 1970s, Ward would become one of the largest school bus body manufacturers in the United States, with the company holding a 25% market share in 1973.[6] In 1970, the Austin plant was replaced by an all-new facility in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. To expand into small buses, Ward purchased Texas-based manufacturer Coachette in 1973, moving their production into a separate facility in Conway.[5] Additionally, the assembly line at the main Conway facility was upgraded and connected to an IBM 370 mainframe, as the company explored computer-based manufacturing.[2] Coinciding with the new assembly line was the redesigned full-size conventional bus body, dubbed the Ward Volunteer. Aside from a redesigned windshield and the change in chassis suppliers, the Ward Volunteer shares many components with that of the IC Bus CE-Series produced today.
Along with other school bus manufacturers, the late 1970s would prove to be a rough time for Ward, which had been renamed Ward School Bus Manufacturing, Inc. In 1975, the Pennsylvania plant was forced to close. A year later, Ward would produce a prototype for the first front-wheel drive full-size school bus, but the company was forced to abandon the project before it reached production. As Ward faced declining demand for school buses, the company was over $20 million in debt; in July 1980, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In August 1980, an investment group assisted by the then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton purchased the assets of Ward Industries. While the school buses would still bear the Ward name, the only interests that the Ward family would keep in the new company would be in vehicle distribution. By 1981, Ward was officially known as AmTran (American Transportation Corporation).
The Vanguard was the first cutaway-body school bus designed with 5 rows of passenger seating.[1]
Coachette
Type B (Integrated)
stripped chassis
Chevrolet P30
Patriot
1985-1991
Type C (Conventional; semi-forward control)
stripped chassis
General Motors (Chevrolet/GMC B-Series)
The Patriot was the first semi-forward control conventional, combining the sloped nose of a Type B bus with a full-size body. It was based on a modified version of the GM conventional chassis.[1]
In 1976, Ward built a prototype derived from body of the President. Using a modified IHC chassis, it was the first front-wheel drive school bus; it did not enter production.
Replacing the President, the Senator was the Ward counterpart of the Blue Bird TC/2000 and the Wayne Lifestar. Following the dissolution of the Ward brand, the Senator underwent minor revisions to become the AmTran Genesis.
Conway is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Faulkner County, located in the state's most populous Metropolitan Statistical Area, Central Arkansas. Although considered a suburb of Little Rock, Conway is unusual in that the majority of its residents do not commute out of the city to work. The city also serves as a regional shopping, educational, work, healthcare, sports, and cultural hub for Faulkner County and surrounding areas. Conway's growth can be attributed to its jobs in technology and higher education; among its largest employers being Acxiom, the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College, Insight Enterprises, and many technology start up companies. Conway is home to three post-secondary educational institutions, earning it the nickname "The City of Colleges".
A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus. Various configurations of school buses are used worldwide; the most iconic examples are the yellow school buses of the United States and Canada which are also found in other parts of the world.
The Wayne Corporation was an American manufacturer of buses and other vehicles under the "Wayne" marque. The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana. During the middle 20th century, Wayne served as a leading producer of school buses in North America.
Thomas Built Buses, Inc. is an American bus manufacturer. Best known for its production of yellow school buses, Thomas produces other bus designs for a variety of usages. Currently, its production is concentrated on school buses and activity buses, along with their commercial derivatives.
Carpenter Body Works is a defunct American bus manufacturer. Founded in 1918 in Mitchell, Indiana, the company produced a variety of vehicles, with the majority of production consisting of yellow school buses for the United States and Canada.
Navistar, Inc is an American holding company created in 1986 as the successor to International Harvester. Navistar operates as the owner of International-branded trucks and diesel engines. The company also produces buses under the IC Bus brand. On July 1, 2021, Navistar became a wholly owned subsidiary of Traton. Navistar Defense LLC operates independently and is owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, the company has 13,000 employees worldwide as of 2019. Navistar operates through a network of nearly 1,000 dealer outlets in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico and more than 60 dealers in 90 countries.
IC Bus is an American bus manufacturer. Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar International. Established in 2002 by Navistar through the reorganization of subsidiary manufacturer American Transportation Corporation (AmTran), IC currently produces school buses and commercial-use buses for multiple applications.
The Thomas Vista is a model line of buses that was manufactured by Thomas Built Buses from 1989 to 1998. Produced nearly exclusively as a school bus, the model line was also sold in commercial-use configurations. To improve forward sightlines for drivers, the chassis design of the Vista combines elements of conventional buses and transit-style school buses.
Mid Bus was a corporation which specialized in manufacturing customized school buses. Formed in 1981 by former employees of Superior Coach Company in Lima, Ohio, it grew from a dozen employees working in a small facility in Lima to become one of the country's largest manufacturers of smaller school buses, moving to a much larger facility a few miles north of Lima in 1995.
Corbeil is a defunct trade name that has been used in bus manufacturing. From 1936 to 1975, J.H. Corbeil was a manufacturer of bus bodies; Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil was a body manufacturer that specialized primarily in school buses, opened from 1985 to 2007. In 2007, the company was acquired out of bankruptcy by Collins Industries and renamed Corbeil Bus Corporation. Serving as the Canadian equivalent of Collins Bus Corporation, manufacturing was shifted from Quebec to Hutchinson, Kansas.
Collins Bus Corporation is an American bus manufacturer headquartered in Hutchinson, Kansas. Best known for production of yellow school buses, the company produces buses for multiple applications; all bodies designed by the company have been produced for cutaway van chassis.
Superior Coach was a coachbuilder in the American automotive industry. Founded in 1909 as the Garford Motor Truck Company, Superior is best known for constructing bodies for professional cars (hearses) and school buses. Following major downturns in both segments in the late 1970s, Superior was liquidated by its parent company in 1980. From 1925 to 1980, the company was based in Lima, Ohio.
American Transportation Corporation was an American manufacturer of school bus bodies. Tracing its roots to Ward Body Works, AmTran was formed in 1980 following the 1979 bankruptcy of Ward to continue bus production. In 1991, the company became a subsidiary of Navistar International, leading to a series of acquisitions of school bus body manufacturers by chassis suppliers during the 1990s.
The Wayne Lifeguard is a type C school bus built by Wayne Corporation, introduced in 1973. Produced until Wayne Corporation declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in late 1992, the Lifeguard was also produced by successor Wayne Wheeled Vehicles until their closure in 1995. The Lifeguard introduced new methods of design and construction for school buses to improve their collision.
The Blue Bird Vision is a school bus that is manufactured and marketed by Blue Bird Corporation in North America and exported worldwide. In production since 2003, the Vision became the first cowled-chassis bus built on a proprietary chassis designed and manufactured by the same company. While it is sold primarily in a school bus configuration, the Blue Bird Vision is also offered with various commercial and specialty seating and design configurations.
The International 3000 Series is a transit-style bus chassis manufactured by Navistar International, used for school bus and commercial bus applications. In production since 1990, it has been produced in both front and rear-engine configurations.
The bus chassis variant of the International S series is a cowled bus chassis that was produced by International Harvester from 1979 to 2001. Produced primarily for school bus applications, the chassis was also produced for other applications, including commercial-use buses and cutaway-cab buses. In addition, the cowled chassis formed the basis for front-engine and rear-engine stripped chassis produced for bus applications.
The International 3300 is a Type-C cowled bus chassis (conventional-style) manufactured by Navistar International, derived from the International DuraStar since 2004 for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While most examples are produced as yellow school buses, variants of the 3300 are also produced for commercial applications; International also produces as cutaway-cab variant of the model line.
The Wayne Lifestar is a product line of buses that was manufactured and marketed by Wayne Corporation and its successor company Wayne Wheeled Vehicles from 1986 to 1995. Produced nearly exclusively in a school bus configuration, the Wayne Lifestar used a transit-style body configuration with a front-engine chassis. Marking the return to transit-style production, the Lifestar adopted the single-piece body stampings of the Wayne Lifeguard in its construction.
Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (WWV) was a tradename of a division of a vehicle manufacturer that specialized primarily in the production of school buses. It was owned by Harsco Corporation, who purchased the rights to use the Wayne brand name, certain product rights, as well as parts and tooling during the liquidation of assets of the Wayne Corporation in late 1992.
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