Lynchburg Business

Hop On the Bus, Gus: Sonny Merryman Puts a Green Plan into Action

Issue: March 2010 by Megan Norcross in Going Green, Inside The Magazine

The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round. Whether or not that bus is emitting harmful pollutants into the air while those wheels spin is a different story. Such is not the case for a few local, yellow machines, however. Or, perhaps we should say, “green machines.”

Loudoun County Public Schools, in Ashburn, Virginia, was the first to purchase a hybrid bus—a school bus that runs on diesel fuel and electricity. Manufactured by Thomas Built Buses and distributed by Sonny Merryman, Inc., a company hailing from Evington, Virginia, the bus purchased by the school district is the first of its kind to hit the roads in the Commonwealth.

“The Thomas Hybrid Saf-T-Liner C2^e is a hybrid, electric bus,” explained Floyd Merryman, President and CEO of Sonny Merryman. “It operates on a regenerative power system which means, rather than having a transmission, it has an electric motor that captures the energy that is generally expelled out of the tail pipe.”

Unlike most electric vehicles, the Hybrid Saf-T-Liner is completely self-contained—meaning it does not have to be plugged in.

“[The bus] works in the same way a Toyota Prius does—when you let off the accelerator, you don’t necessarily have to hit the brakes,” Merryman said. “The hybrid system brakes the vehicle and captures the energy and stores it in batteries. We estimate it will get 30 percent better fuel mileage [than regular buses], depending on the type of bus route.”

The Hybrid Saf-T-Liner is a product of Thomas Built Trucks, a member of Daimler Trucks North America, LLC. Daimler, the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America, also produces Mercedes-Benz.

“When you think of Daimler or Mercedes, you think of luxury automobiles. What people don’t know is that Daimler is top 10 in the world for auto manufacturers,” Merryman said.

The bus consists of two separate components—a Cummins ISB diesel engine and an electric power plant developed by the Eaton Corporation. School districts that operate the Hybrid Saf-T-Liner C2 ^e not only save money due to reduced fuel consumption, BUT they will also notice savings through reduced brake wear and component maintenance.

According to a press release from November 2009, “The carbon footprint of the vehicle is substantially minimized from that of a traditional school bus. At first glance, the hybrid bus looks like any other yellow school bus; however, it represents a significant advancement in clean energy technology. Upon close inspection, one will quickly notice the hybrid bus runs much quieter—another environmental benefit.”

Unlike most diesel vehicles, which are known for producing a cloud of black smoke, the hybrid bus is completely smoke-free.

“You won’t notice any black smoke puttering from the tail pipe,” Merryman boasted. “You may see white smoke, but that just means the engine is cold.”

To put this all into perspective: Loudoun County Public Schools currently operates approximately 700 buses which transport more than 45,000 students for an average of 50,000 miles per day. On a typical school bus route, it is estimated that the new hybrid bus will use 920 gallons less in diesel fuel and emit 9.5 metric tons fewer carbon expenditures annually as compared to a traditional diesel powered bus. As if that weren’t enough, students are also getting a lesson on the importance of minimizing their own carbon footprints.

The Hybrid Saf-T-Liner isn’t the only green machine that Sonny Merryman distributes, however. Ever since the likes of global warming, carbon footprints and eco-friendly products began gracing our television screens and newspapers, Sonny Merryman has been making a conscious effort to clean up Mother Nature.

“We have all kinds of initiatives as far as the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) goes. We recently implemented a new set of EPA emission requirements to make diesel engines cleaner in the buses,” said Merryman.

Though you won’t see any green buses on the roads in Lynchburg right now, Merryman predicts that won’t be the case for long. He expects to see dozens of hybrid school buses transporting students within the next few years.

In the meantime, school systems can work to “green up” their districts by implementing eco-friendly practices throughout the grounds, such as administering a recycling program in classrooms and cafeterias. Schools systems can also take a step further in teaching their students green practices and responsibility by growing an organic school community garden. By seeing the fruits of their tedious labor, students will have a deeper appreciation for the Earth as well as a consciousness of what they’re putting into their bodies.

For school districts that wish to have their own green machine, call Sonny Merryman, Inc., at 434-821-1000 or visit www.SonnyMerryman.com.