Is there a more versatile vehicle than a school bus? It starts the day at the crack of dawn, heading out on the morning runs to ferry students from their homes to the grounds. By mid-morning it is whisking more kids to sports games and excursions, before returning them by the early afternoon. Then it’s time to carry everyone home, often returning back to the school or depot after dark, having traversed gravel and asphalt, highways and local roads.
It takes a versatile vehicle to fulfil these demanding duties day in, day out. When Todd Dening, logistics manager at boys’ school Brisbane St Joseph’s Nudgee College, situated in the northern surrounds of the city, looked at options for updating the fleet, a new option soon stood out as the best value choice for the unique burdens of being a school bus.
“We have an ageing fleet at Nudgee College and we recently looked at upgrading it,” Dening told ABC.
“We’ve known for some time that we had buses due for replacement. Previously we stuck with one supplier for our buses, but this time around we took a different approach and reviewed four supplier offerings before deciding to go with Zhongtong buses from ZBus.”
The recent decision means two new Zhongtong buses have been delivered to the day and boarding school to rejuvenate its fleet. Dening says the pair of buses will be completing “the whole gamut” of services, encompassing the morning and afternoon school runs and excursions throughout the week. On the weekend, the buses will also transport boarder students and take more to and from sports games.
Throw in a run at the end of each term down to Moree on the northern border of New South Wales and Nudgee College had a complex set of requirements for its new buses. ZBus quickly stood out as the leading option among school bus suppliers.
“We put the figures down on paper and assessed different features – whether it be pricing, servicing or the total ownership package – and ZBus came out with the best bang for buck,” he says.
“We then test drove the bus and felt it drove exceptionally well. It was the best bus that we took for a test drive, and we were very impressed by the array of modern features that were built in as standard.”
For Dening, a standout part of the Zhongtong school bus model was the choice of seating. He says the combination of moulded plastic and a robust handle on the seat’s backrest made for an ideal option for both seated and standing students.
When it comes to other features built into the Zhongtong product, Dening likened them to driving a car.
“There’s rain-sensing wipers, automatic wipers and an eight-camera onboard system as standard that includes a 360-degree camera for when the bus is reversing,” he says.
“The cameras also show a bird’s eye view of the bus, which is very handy as a lot of accidents come when reversing at low speeds. Then there are bin door alarm systems as standards – we usually have to add these after purchase, but it’s so convenient and valuable that it all comes as standard.”
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news and classifieds from Australasia’s bus and coach industry
Don’t miss a second and subscribe to our monthly ABC magazine
The delivery of the school buses is another milestone for ZBus as the supplier continues to build momentum in Australia. Late last year the brand returned to the Australian bus market, reigniting sales after originally entering the local sector in the mid-2000s as the first Chinese bus manufacturer to bring a fully imported and ready to use bus down under.
The Zhongtong badge is now present once again in Australia through a combination of two diesel and two hybrid bus models.
“The H12 diesel model can range from 35 to 57 seats and comes with a variety of luxury options available as add-ons like toilets,” ZBus national corporate sales manager Glenn Davidson told ABC.
“We then have the L7 – a 22 to 27 seat including driver model, while the L8 is our smaller hybrid model at 8.5 metres long and offers the same benefits as the H12, just in a shorter configuration.”
Image: ZBus
The brand has a national presence around the country, with Davidson and national sales manager Barry Henderson leading the tight-knit local team. Davidson says the Zhongtong products are off to a hot start in Australia due to a variety of factors – they’re at a good price point, lots of standard options are built into the models and the pair have experience working with operators around the country.
“Our models in Australia all come with fully independent front ZF suspension and Cummins running gear, providing a uniform standard,” he says.
“These buses are well attuned to Australian conditions. We’ve had a lot of interest to date, we’re the only Chinese manufacturer currently bringing a full plug-in hybrid option to Australia.”
Despite having standard options, flexibility is still a key part of ZBus’ approach to supplying Zhongtong buses. Whether it be the number of seats or the colour of paint, ZBus can remain versatile in what it produces from its Chinese factory.
These qualities shone through with Dening and Nudgee College, as did ZBus’ aftersales care. When there was a minor issue with the specialised stickers on the buses, ZBus quickly made the fix locally to ensure the school received the buses promptly. It has allowed the college to waste no time in getting its drivers trained on the buses so that they can begin their wide-ranging array of services in no time.
“While the product itself stood out for us, the customer support has also been outstanding,” Dening says.
“Despite the delivery being on time, they still provided us a bus in the meantime so we won’t left with any inconveniences. The service so far has been good, and I’m confident we’ll have a wonderful experience with these two buses over the coming years.”
Read more: