Mid Bus was a corporation which specialized in manufacturing customized

school bus 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 ...

es. Formed in 1981 by former employees of

Superior Coach Company 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 downtur ...

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

, 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. The company was acquired by Collins Bus Corporation in 1998. On September 19, 2007, Collins announced plans to close the Mid Bus plant in Ohio and consolidate all manufacturing at the Collins facility in Kansas.

History

In 1980, in the US, there were six major

body companies building large school buses, mostly making bodies for chassis from four truck manufacturers, joined by two coach-type school bus builders on the West Coast. Most also made some smaller buses of various types. With the

baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are often ca ...

years which swelled the ranks of school children in the past, the manufacturing industry faced serious over-capacity as companies vied and competed for lower volumes of purchases. In 1981, when Sheller-Globe Corporation, a diversified industrial conglomerate closed down its large

bus factory in

, three former managers created Mid Bus, manufacturing Superior's smallest Type A bus under the new "Superior by Mid Bus" brand name. Initially, they had a seven other former

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

of the large factory, and worked in a small shop. As other small bus products were added, Superior by Mid Bus was shortened to Mid Bus. In the late 1980s, the company acquired the Minuteman product line from

AmTran American Transportation Corporation (better known as AmTran) was an American manufacturer of school bus bodies. Tracing its roots to Ward Body Works (established in 1933), AmTran was formed in 1980 following the 1979 bankruptcy of Ward to cont ...

(formerly Ward Body Company) and in the early 1990s, the tooling and product rights to Busette from

Wayne Corporation 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 ...

. After a succession of larger facilities in Lima, around 1995, the company moved to a much larger facility in

Bluffton, Ohio Bluffton, originally known as Shannon, is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Allen County, Ohio, Allen and Hancock County, Ohio, Hancock counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,125 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...

. Mid Bus became a subsidiary of

Collins Industries Collins Industries 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 ...

, a publicly traded stock company, in 1998. On September 19, 2007, Collins announced plans to close the Mid Bus plant in Ohio and consolidate all manufacturing at the Collins facility in Kansas.

Products

* Guide SRW - Ford E350 or GMC 3500/Chevy 3500 chassis * Guide DRW - Ford E350 or GMC 3500/Chevy 3500 chassis * Guide XL - GMC 4500/5500 chassis * MFSAB - Ford E350 or GMC 3500/Chevy 3500 chassis * Guide AL - international 3400 chassis

External links

Mid Bus homepage

References

{{North American School Bus Manufacturers Defunct bus manufacturers of the United States School bus manufacturers Defunct companies based in Ohio Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Lima, Ohio Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1981 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2008 1981 establishments in Ohio 2008 disestablishments in Ohio