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About Us

Thomas Built Buses is a leading manufacturer of school, activity, commercial and childcare buses based in High Point, North Carolina. We serve communities and schools throughout the U.S. and Canada through our network of independently owned dealerships. And as a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America LLC (DTNA), the leading commercial vehicle manufacturer in North America, we have the resources to continually push innovation forward and put the needs of our customers first.

More Than A School Bus Manufacturer

We design, build and test school buses with a passion. After all, we are engineers, creators, dreamers, bus enthusiasts—and parents. We build our buses as if our own children were riding on them. And in fact, they often are. That’s what drives us to be even better, and to make every mile matter.

What Drives Us

Putting safety first

School buses are among the safest vehicles on the road. But it takes a lot of research, hard work and testing to push safety even further within our industry. That’s why at Thomas Built, we make kids’ safety our top priority—nothing else comes close. And it’s why every employee takes their job so seriously in pursuit of this commitment. It gives us a powerful sense of purpose, every single day.

Driving innovation

Innovation is about asking questions, like “What would a world look like with zero emissions?” or “How can a bus be even safer?” Asking those questions—and working hard to answer them—has made Thomas Built one of North America’s leading bus manufacturers.

Over the years, we’ve led the industry with our robust safety system offerings, such as the NS PV360 camera package, Saf-T-Zone™ Pedestrian Detection and Auto-Reversing Doors. And with our all-electric Saf-T-Liner® C2 Jouley®, we’re advancing innovation even further. Our commitment to leading the way is just one reason why one in three school buses on the road today is a Thomas Built bus.

Supporting bus owners throughout the life of the bus

We’re not just here to provide school buses. We want to give bus owners everything they need over the entire course of their ownership journey. That means paying attention to the smallest details in order to improve safety and reliability, showing owners how to service and maintain their buses, and providing support whenever it is needed. From manufacturing to customer care, we’re here to help every step of the way.

Pushing durability and ease-of-maintenance farther

Purchasing school buses is an important decision for any school or district. That’s why we are committed to ensuring that school buses aren’t just durable over the long term, but they’re easy and cost-effective to maintain as well.

We also believe in providing the best total cost of ownership on Thomas Built school buses. With quality materials and manufacturing practices, combined with smart technology, a Thomas Built bus is more than a wise investment. It’s a smart way to stretch a budget a little further.

Leading the way to a sustainable future—today

Our commitment to environmental responsibility extends beyond the creation of clean drive technologies. We also follow sustainable manufacturing practice. In fact, we were the first school bus manufacture to achieve zero-waste-to-landfill operations. In addition, Thomas Built is proud to participate in the EPA WasteWise program, which is part of the EPA’s sustainable materials management efforts that promote the use and reuse of materials over their entire life cycles.

With buses that are green from the ground up as well as inside and out, we are proud to say that Thomas Built Buses is the leading sustainable school bus manufacturer.

Since 2011, our drive to move our industry forward has earned us recognition as an Environmental Steward by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

A brighter future. It’s just one more reason to put your children on a Thomas Built bus.

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