For most school bus shops, summer is the only time the whole fleet is parked at once. It's when the big jobs get done, the state inspections are passed, and every bus is made ready for the first day of school. It goes fast: ten weeks disappear, and by August the shop is still waiting for parts.
Here's a practical school bus summer maintenance checklist, and how to plan it so the fleet is ready on time.
The checklist
| Area | What to do |
|---|---|
| Brakes | Inspect and adjust; replace pads, shoes and drums at the limit |
| Tires and alignment | Tread, pressure, age, damage; a heavy-duty alignment check |
| Air conditioning and cooling | Filters, coils, belts, hoses, refrigerant and a pressure test |
| Engine and transmission | Fluids and filters due by miles, hours or months |
| Electrical | Batteries tested, lights, stop arm, crossing arm and warning lights |
| Safety equipment | First aid and cleanup kits, fire extinguisher, emergency exits and buzzers |
| Wheelchair lifts and securement | Lift service, straps and belts |
| Interior | Seats, handrails, floors, windows; graffiti and torn seats repaired |
| Pests and cleaning | Food cleared out, entry points sealed |
| State inspection | Booked before school starts, with any defects fixed first |
Tip: Book the state inspections in June, for July. Leaving them all to August means one failed bus can't be repaired in time.
Planning it
- List every job for every bus before the last day of school, from your PM schedule and the defects drivers reported.
- Order parts early: brake parts, tires and AC parts run short in July.
- Spread the work across the weeks, a few buses at a time.
- Keep summer-school buses on their schedule: they still need their PM and their daily checks.
- Finish with a road test and a full pre-trip on every bus before it goes back on a route.
Buses parked all summer
- Batteries kept charged or disconnected.
- Started and run every few weeks, if your mechanic recommends it.
- Tires checked before they go back out; parked tires lose pressure.
Good to know: Follow the bus and part makers' manuals and your state's inspection rules and dates.
Doing it in FleetCommander
What's due. On Maintenance, each bus's schedules come due by Every (miles), Every (engine hours) or Every (days), and Create work order turns one into a job. A yearly summer job, such as the AC check or the brake overhaul, can use Every (days) set to 365. Under Reports, Overdue maintenance lists what's due or overdue now, so you can plan the summer from it. See the Maintenance guide.
The work. Each work order has a Repair category (Brakes, HVAC, Tires & wheels, Wheelchair lift and others), a Status and a Priority, so you see what's open and waiting for parts. Parts flags Low stock before you run out. Repair costs by category shows what the summer cost.
Ava (Beta), the assistant in the app, answers What's due in the next 30 days? or Open work orders waiting for parts. More on her page.
Related reading
Questions people ask
- What maintenance should school buses get in the summer?
- The big jobs: brakes, tires and alignment, AC and cooling, fluids and filters, electrical and safety equipment, lifts, interiors and pests, and the state inspection before school starts.
- When should summer maintenance start?
- Plan it before the last day of school, order parts early, and spread the work across the summer so every bus is done before August.
- Do buses running summer school still need maintenance?
- Yes. They keep their PM schedule and daily pre-trip inspections like any other time of year.
- How do you keep parked buses ready over the summer?
- Keep batteries charged or disconnected, run them every few weeks if your mechanic recommends it, and check tires before they go back on a route.