Algoma's largest school bus operator was checking its fleet and holding a seminar for drivers Wednesday after a dual wheel fell off a Bawating bus last week.
"In the 20 years I've been here it's the first time it's happened to me," said Ken Whorpole, branch manager for Laidlaw Transit Inc.
On Monday, Feb. 6, a Laidlaw-owned bus left Bawating Collegiate and Vocational Institute and was travelling down Fourth Line when a wheel strut broke and the dual wheel came loose.
The vehicle "slowly came to a halt on the hub," Ray DeRosario, director of education with the Algoma District School Board, told SooToday.com.
None of the Bawating students were hurt. They were taken home on another bus, and parents were contacted by both the principal and Laidlaw officials.
The bus was taken to Laidlaw's yard and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) was contacted.
MTO is investigating the cause of the accident, but findings are not expected for at least a couple of weeks.
Whorpole told SooToday that all Laidlaw drivers are receiving refresher courses in bus wheel assembly at seminars on Wednesday and Thursday.
Company drivers are expected to do a "walk-around" inspection of their buses each day.
A safety inspection is performed every 5,000 kilometres or 45 days (whichever comes first) and wheels are removed for a brake inspection at least once a year or every 25,000 kilometres, Whorpole said.
The Soo branch of Laidlaw Transit Inc. operates 120 buses.
Based in Naperville, Illinois, Laidlaw is North America's largest school bus operator with more than 40,000 buses transporting 2.3 million school children each day.
In Algoma, it's the largest of 14 independent contractors employed by Algoma District School Board to transport students.
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