The Polk County School District, located in the heart of Central Florida is the eighth largest county in the state. With nearly 12,000 employees, the School District serves more than half a million residents and more than 160 school sites spanning 2,000 square miles. To give you a better idea of just how much territory they have to cover, consider the fact that Polk County borders on ten other Florida counties. It is a massive undertaking to safely transport the county's students, as well as servicing, maintaining and managing one of the nation’s largest school bus fleets. Despite these obstacles, this is exactly what they do.

The Polk County School District safely delivers its students with a fleet of 731 buses. With an average age of 9 ½ years, Polk county needed to begin modernizing an aging fleet and still find a way to lower operating costs.

In order to help make their operation more efficient, Polk County recently ordered fifty 2011 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2s from Matthews Buses, Inc. consisting of forty-five standard buses and five wheelchair equipped units that can safely transport 77 passengers. The buses are equipped with the EPA 2010 Cummins ISB with Engine Brake and RAC 3 compressor AC systems.

Matthews Buses has delivered the first eight units and expect to complete full delivery by Mid-February. Matthews Buses Team member Chris Bay will be providing a familiarization seminar for the drivers receiving the new buses. As a thank you, Matthews brought their Road Show to the Polk County School District bus maintenance facility in Bartow, Florida. There, Polk County School District employees were given the opportunity to look over the features of the Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2 as well as enjoy lunch, courtesy of Matthews Buses.