Bus Answers

Nancy_Scraps asks: "OK...how many school buses in the twin cities (what %) are sold by the Hoglund Bus Company of Monticello MN. I was behind 3 different school buses yesterday, and they were all from Hoglund!And how does one go about purchasing a school bus. Is there a showroom? A catalog? Do I get a discount for buying 10 or more at once? "

Answer: I don't know about the Cities for percentage-wise, but I do know that we have 60% market share in MN and about 30% in IA. Those are the only two states our dealership sells in. I'd say that most major school districts in the Cities purchase from us. We do very well there and in northern MN. We sold around 300 new school buses last year. That wouldn't include any trade-ins (used) that we sold.

ETA: There are only 3 manufacturers that sell school buses.

How does one go about purchasing a bus? I was surprised at this answer when I started my job. There isn't a catalog, and you can come and check out a bus, but it's not a showroom, just in the field behind our buildings. (You can see them all on 94 to the south when you drive past Monticello) When you order a bus (which is part of my job), there is an option for everything, from the size of the bus, type of motor, type of seat - 2 leg (one side bolts to the wall) or 4 leg, number of rubrails (the black stripes on the bus - MN requires 4) to anything else you can think of. Even the driver's mirror is an option, you can get 6x30 or 10x30. There are requirements, both legally and practically - i.e. tires, School Bus Yellow paint. So, what a school does is make specs for what they want, and we create a bus to their specs. After someone is a customer for awhile and continues to purchase the same type of bus, we order "stock" buses that are the way they want them. Then the next year, they say they want a bus, and we have one for them. There's a bunch of ways to purchase a bus, but I'd rather not put everyone to sleep. There's a lot more to getting your kids to school than anyone would ever know! Even me - and I work there!!