Feature 1 — Autogas
Grow Gallons Sold: Tapping Into the Propane School Bus Market
Reductions in electric bus funding & high acquisition costs open new doors for autogas
By Todd Mouw
One of my favorite quotes is from Stephen King: “Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.” While you remain laser-focused on meeting the needs of your market and customers every day, there is a huge opportunity knocking at your door — propane school buses. Today, student transportation across North America consumes well over 100 million gallons of propane annually. The good news is that this is just the tip of the iceberg!
What you’ve seen in the headlines over the past several years has been electric school buses and how they were poised to be the primary replacement for diesel buses. Yes, propane buses were technically part of the federal Clean School Bus Program but were decidedly not a focal point.
But here’s something you might not know: The electric bus momentum has stalled in a big way. Funding is being reduced, acquisition costs are too high (an electric bus is upward of $350,000 or more), the technology is in its infancy, recharging infrastructure is a challenge and original equipment manufacturer support is not where it needs to be.
This presents a major growth opportunity for your business. Why? We are entering a phase where a large majority of the school bus inventory is aging beyond 10 years and will need to be replaced sooner rather than later.
Diesel buses (and the fuel) are getting even more complex and expensive, and electric buses are too expensive and questionably operable with very limited range. The legitimate, proven option — which falls smack-dab in the middle — is propane buses. More than 1,200 districts already operate propane school buses daily across North America. ROUSH CleanTech has 2 billion miles of data and numerous case studies showcasing propane as a combination of economic and environmental benefits.
That’s where you come in with your vision and strategy for gallon growth. If your area is anything like southeast Michigan, where ROUSH CleanTech is located, many nearby districts are mulling what to do with their school bus fleet. We’ve heard of districts that made a major commitment to electric buses, only to back down when they realized the expense was prohibitive. Unfortunately, some of those districts have gone back to diesel buses.
That makes little sense. Geopolitical events have driven diesel costs to unprecedented levels — and diesel is just plain smoky and dirty, even with emissions-reducing technologies, which are expensive.
Why shouldn’t propane have a seat at the table where school bus decisions are being made? Why shouldn’t you and your vast background in this abundant, domestic fuel have that seat at the table?
Now, you might think getting that seat is difficult — and yes, it’s a challenge. But it’s also an opportunity with resources available to you. Consider them a valuable resource that you can tap into at any time with a phone call or email.
One option that could help pitch the benefits of propane school buses to your local district or bus contractor is to connect with ROUSH CleanTech and your local Blue Bird school bus dealer. Blue Bird, which manufactures propane buses, uses a ROUSH CleanTech propane fuel system.
If you have a high-level connection in your district — like the transportation manager or even the chief financial officer — autogas distributors and equipment manufacturers would likely be happy to help you with an “elevator pitch.” ROUSH CleanTech or Blue Bird representatives can follow up with demos, training, total cost of ownership calculators and other materials to help jump-start and close the sale. Leveraging a marketer’s local relationships to shorten the sales cycle is key.
Ultimately, keep your pitch simple. Discuss the propane technology, the bus, the substantially reduced cost and emissions, and the fuel and fueling infrastructure — the close rate is really high.
Which takes us back to gallon growth. Consider the numbers: On average, each propane school bus consumes about 4,000 gallons of propane per year. More than 25,000 propane buses are operating every day, representing more than 100 million gallons annually.
So, if your local district adds 10 new propane buses for the 2026-2027 school year, the simple math shows you’re up 40,000 gallons. Now let’s say you have multiple districts in your area all doing the same, thanks in part to your proactive outreach. Now you’re talking hundreds of thousands of gallons.
It’s reasonable to expect we can sell another 60,000 to 70,000 propane buses over the next decade, getting the total fleet nationwide close to 100,000 in operation. That’s 400 million gallons of propane and almost 5 billion over the life of those assets.
Seems to me that’s a good reason to leverage your resources to gather as many of those gallons as you can.
Images courtesy of ROUSH CleanTech
