Mehlville School Buses Earn Excellent Rating in State Inspection

The Mehlville School District bus fleet received a 96.9 percent approval rating in the latest Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) school bus inspection. Statewide, a total of 12,023 buses were inspected by MSHP personnel from Feb. 2 – April 30, and the average state rating was 87.7 percent.

Joe Huster, fleet supervisor, said that there was one fuel leak found on a microbus, otherwise the rating would have been 100 percent.

“It had just been out on the road and it pulled into the lot,” Huster said. “It was just bad luck. We do repairs right on the spot. The bus is tagged 'out-of-service,' and once it is repaired, it gets re-inspected before the Highway Patrol leaves. It was back out on the road the same day.”

Even though the Highway Patrol inspects buses twice a year, Huster and his five-man crew treat inspection as a yearlong process.

“Starting as early as January, we go over all of the buses. Each bus is in the shop at least once every three months. We also pick a couple of weekends (prior to the official inspection date) and run everything through the shop,” Huster said.

The self-inspection includes jacking the buses up in the air and checking tires, breaks, emergency hatches and everything else from bumper to bumper.

Mehlville included, a total of 268 Missouri school districts were awarded the distinction of Total Fleet Excellence for approval ratings of 90 percent or higher with no buses placed out-of-service.  

Mehlville’s bus fleet is housed at Mehlville High School and consists of 27 microbuses and 71 full-sized general education buses.

The inspection consists of the following components: 

• During the annual school bus inspection program, buses found to be free of defective items are "approved." Upon initial inspection, 10,543 buses in Missouri received approval. 
• Buses with one or more minor defects, yet deemed safe for the transport of students, are identified as "defective," and 1,246 buses were rejected.
• Buses containing one or more major defects, deemed to be unsafe for the transport of students, are identified as "out-of-service" by inspection personnel, and 234 buses were placed out-of-service.

Statewide defective buses may continue to be used for pupil transportation until repairs are made. School districts are allowed 10 days following initial inspection to repair the defected items before being re-inspected.

Out-of-service buses must be repaired, re-inspected by Highway Patrol motor vehicle inspection personnel, and placed back into service prior to being used for student transport.

Results of the annual school bus inspection program are a matter of public record. Requests for information pertaining to the 2011 school bus inspection program may be directed to Motor Vehicle Inspection Analyst Brenda Davis, GHQ, at brenda.davis@mshp.dps.mo.gov.