Dealer Spotlight: Kirkman Bus Sales
Dealer Spotlight: Kirkman Bus Sales
Interviewee: Jason Kirkman
Title: Owner / General Manager
Q. Why do you offer propane school buses to your customers?
A. I’ve been selling propane for many years it’s a reliable powertrain that leads to customer retention and customers become promoters. Having propane also gives us the ability to reach new markets with a new fuel option, which helped us increase our market share in our market.
Q. What has been your most notable propane bus sale so far?
A. Every propane bus sale is valuable no matter the size. But, recently, we had a large order from a loyal propane customer, Pacific Western Transportation, which now makes them the largest single propane deployment in North America. PWT now has over 500 propane buses in their fleet and have been using propane for over six years now.
Q. Why do your customers return to purchase more propane buses?
A. Our customers, like PWT, appreciate propane buses for a number of reasons. They like that you can’t steal propane (like you can with gasoline and diesel vehicles). They don’t worry when winter approaches about cold weather starts. For example, PWT’s buses started in negative 50 degrees Celsius one morning. We’ve also heard reports that driver retention is high — all the drivers LOVE to drive propane buses. Propane buses also have high up-time, which is a major factor, especially for a large fleet like PWT’s.
