Thomas Built Buses, Inc., originally known as Perley A. Thomas Car Works, is a North Carolina-based bus manufacturer. During the 1970s, Thomas was one of the dominating bus manufacturers in North America. In 1978, Thomas introduced its first chassis for its Saf-T-Liner bus. In addition to being sold as a school bus, the Saf-T-Liner was used commercially as well.
Blue Bird had its beginnings in 1927 and soon became one of the leading manufacturers in the United States. Blue Bird's all-steel bus bodies would soon replace the wooden bodies that were then in use throughout the country. Blue Bird school buses of the 1970s included the Type A cutaway van, Type B step van with full-sized body and the Type C conventional bus. In addition to building school buses, Blue Bird began building buses for commercial public transportation in the 1970s.
Wayne Works was started in 1837 in Dublin, Indiana. Near the turn of the century, it was producing horse-drawn carriages to transport children to school. According to Burton Belkap's 1951 publication, "The School Bus," Wayne Works incorporated one of the carriages into an automobile chassis, producing the predecessor to the modern school bus. During the 1970s, Wayne became a part of Indian Head Corporation. In 1973, Wayne premiered the Lifeguard model, a bus with a structural design that utilized a full-length horizontal interior and steel on the outside top and sides of the vehicle.
The Carpenter Body Company was started in 1919 by Ralph Carpenter, a blacksmith wagon maker. In the 1970s, Carpenter marketed school buses under the Crown by Carpenter badge. One of the buses produced by Carpenter in 1978 was a Carpenter Body, mounted on an international chassis. This model represented the end of its International Loadstar line.