Electric Bus Success for Putnam County
Over the past 12 months, the monthly average to power both electric school buses has been $350. Chaffin calculated that, for the same period, the average cost for the diesel fuel for both buses would be around $1,000.
Ashley Scurlock, Cumberland and Putnam County, Tennessee were recently featured in the online magazine, Electric School Bus Initiative.
Ashley Scurlock, a bus account manager at Cumberland International, an IC Bus dealer in Tennessee, reviewed the EPA’s priority list for CSBP funding and reached out to local districts on the list to see if they’d be interested in applying. Putnam County Schools was at the top of Scurlock’s outreach list. She also connected with the Tennessee Association of Pupil Transportation to hold an electric school bus demonstration for priority applicants. Through Scurlock’s proactive work, she has helped over 10 school districts to secure electric school bus funding.
With Putnam County being on the EPA’s priority list, Scurlock also contacted Chaffin directly to see if the district had any interest in applying for funding. Chaffin attended the electric school bus demo and saw the program as an excellent opportunity to take advantage of money on the table and to be at the forefront of the electric school bus transition.
In Rural Tennessee, a Supportive School Bus Dealer Met an Enthusiastic School District. The Partnership Has Been Electric.
Putnam County Schools worked closely with their local school bus dealer to bring clean rides to mountainous terrain.
Partnering for successful implementation
Once school district officials and the board had approval to apply for the CSBP rebate, Cumberland applied for the rebate on behalf of the district, and they received notice of their rebate award at the end of 2022. That’s when the work of acquiring the electric school buses and getting them on the road began—and once again, the partnership between the school district and the dealer was crucial.
After being awarded funding, district staff ordered the electric school buses from Cumberland and began to prepare for their arrival.
Scurlock explained that it was a learning process, but open communication throughout the journey was essential to successful deployment of the buses.
