Using the innovative repower solution developed in conjunction with PowerUp Inc., CoachCrafters Inc. has contracted with the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority to repower three Orion buses.

Jacques Robichaux, Sr. of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is thrilled with the project. “We really needed these buses to be in service, however they had older engines and were highly unreliable. We couldn’t afford to buy new buses, and didn’t have the time to wait for them to be delivered even if we did.” Robichaux adds, “Repowering the existing buses that were otherwise in great condition was the perfect solution. It fit into our budget and was a very quick process.”

CoachCrafters President Wayne Wolf is happy to have yet another satisfied repower customer. “The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is typical of our repower customer base. They have buses that are perfectly serviceable otherwise, but whose power plant has reached the end of its useful life. We are generally able to repower five to six buses for the cost of buying a single new bus. Our customers are delighted with this solution.”

Coachcrafters expects that repowering transit buses will become more and more popular over the next few years as many buses with Detroit engines need to either be repowered or retired. With the ground-breaking solution developed by PowerUp and implemented by CoachCrafters which is based on a kit that includes a brand new Cummins engine, the costs and downtime for such a project are greatly reduced.