May 16, 1961 Automotive manufacturer Richard J. Corbitt died in Henderson, North Carolina, at the age of 88. Corbitt had first established residence in that community in 1894, and he entered the transportation business five years later with the launch of the Corbitt Buggy Company. For several years, this company built horse-drawn buggies for hauling agricultural... Continue Reading →
May 18, 1908 Stanley Johnson Marx, who would serve as the head of a leading and influential school bus manufacturer on the west coast of the United States, was born in Oakland, California. In 1927, Marx began working for the California-based Gillig Brothers Company as a mechanic. This company traced its origins to a carriage and wagon shop established in... Continue Reading →
October 28, 2008 A new version of the influential and time-honored Blue Bird All American school bus was unveiled at the trade show of the National Association for Pupil Transportation annual conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. These buses are manufactured by the Blue Bird Corporation, which is based in Fort Valley, Georgia, and traces its... Continue Reading →
September 1, 1973 The first U.S. federal safety standard relating to school buses officially took effect. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 217 was issued by the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), to help better protect the lives of passengers on certain large buses (intercity... Continue Reading →