Thomas Built Buses is an American bus maker headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, best known for its yellow school buses. Its Wikipedia article traces it to 1916, when Perley A. Thomas started Thomas Car Works to build and renovate streetcars, and says it turned to school bus bodies from 1936 after the streetcar market collapsed. The company took the name Thomas Built Buses in 1972. Until the late 1990s it was the last major school bus builder under family control; in 1996 the family sold a majority stake to Berkshire Partners, and in October 1998 Freightliner bought the whole company. Freightliner sits under Daimler Truck North America, so Thomas is today part of Daimler Truck. Besides school buses it builds activity buses and commercial derivatives, and it makes the chassis for some of its models.
Facts
Founded Year Company Type
Company Type (category) Company Type (category) Connections
Companies Founded
Source Perley A. Thomas (Wikipedia)
Companies Led
Source Perley A. Thomas (Wikipedia)
Source T.J. Reed appointed as President and CEO of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp and Thomas Built Buses (Thomas Built Buses)
Operates In
Source Thomas Built Buses (Wikipedia)
Subsidiary Of
Part of Daimler Truck in the present period, through Daimler Truck North America; Freightliner was the direct parent from 1998.
Source Freightliner Trucks (Wikipedia)
Freightliner parent from the October 1998 purchase from the Thomas family and Berkshire Partners.
Source Thomas Built Buses (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Same As
Also in Transport Atlas: the same subject.
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Source Thomas Built Buses (Wikipedia)Lead, headquartersQuote, Lead, headquarters
Headquartered in High Point, North Carolina
Sources
1. Thomas Built Buses (Wikipedia)
Lead
Founded in 1916 as Perley A. Thomas Car Works, the company was renamed in 1972 to better represent its primary product lines.
Lead, status
Best known for its production of yellow school buses, Thomas produces other bus designs for a variety of usages.
Lead, company type
Thomas Built Buses, Inc. (commonly shortened to Thomas) is an American bus manufacturer.
Lead, subsidiary
Thomas has been a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America (the parent company of Freightliner) since 1998.
Lead, headquarters
Headquartered in High Point, North Carolina
Infobox: num_employees
1,600
Subsidiary Of: Freightliner Trucks, History, 1990s, Freightliner acquisition
in October 1998, Freightliner acquired Thomas Built Buses in its entirety from the Thomas family and the Berkshire
View the SourceFreightliner Trucks (Wikipedia)
Subsidiary Of: Daimler Truck, Lead, Daimler Truck North AmericaQuote, Subsidiary Of: Daimler Truck, Lead, Daimler Truck North America
Freightliner is now a part of Daimler Truck subsidiary Daimler Truck North America (along with Western Star, Detroit Diesel, and Thomas Built Buses).
Perley A. Thomas (Wikipedia)
Companies Founded: Perley A. Thomas, Career
The Perley A. Thomas Car Works was later reorganized as Thomas Built Buses, Inc.
Companies Led: Perley A. Thomas, Career
Thomas guided his company through a transition to bus manufacturing in 1936.
View the SourceT.J. Reed appointed as President and CEO of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp and Thomas Built Buses (Thomas Built Buses)
Companies Led: T. J. Reed, Paragraph 1Quote, Companies Led: T. J. Reed, Paragraph 1
Reed will be responsible for all aspects of the TBB and FCCC brands at DTNA, including strategy, sales and operations.
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