The defect
Ameritrans Bus, Inc. (Ameritrans) is recalling certain model year 2012-2014 Ford E Series shuttle buses built on E150, E250, E350, and E450, and Freightliner M2 Series shuttle buses manufactured August 1, 2012, to July 10, 2014, equipped with certain model S2005, S2010, S5005, S5010, S5505, and S5510 wheelchair lifts manufactured by Ricon Corporation. The platform side plate of the affected wheelchair lifts may crack.
The risk
If the platform side plates crack, the lift platform can separate from the lift and come to rest against the vehicle's lift door. When the doors are opened, the platform may fall out, increasing the risk of injury to the lift operator.
The remedy
Ameritrans will notify owners to take the shuttle buses to a Ricon dealer or service center who will install supplemental platform support bumpers. Any platform that has already started cracking will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on January 5, 2015. Owners may contact Ameritrans customer service at 1-574-262-8935 or Ricon customer service at 1-800-322-2884.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ameritrans E-Series | 2012, 2013, 2014 |
| Ameritrans M2 Series | 2012, 2013, 2014 |
Components: EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ameritrans E-Series | 2012 | 0 | 2 |
| Ameritrans E-Series | 2013 | 0 | 2 |
| Ameritrans E-Series | 2014 | 0 | 1 |
| Ameritrans M2 Series | 2012 | 0 | 2 |
| Ameritrans M2 Series | 2013 | 0 | 3 |
| Ameritrans M2 Series | 2014 | 0 | 2 |
Other equipment adaptive/mobility recalls in 2014
44 of the 770 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2014 concerned the equipment adaptive/mobility; Ameritrans Bus, Inc. filed 10 campaigns in all.
| 14V825000 29 Dec 2014 | Dodgen Industries, Inc. |
| 14V799000 17 Dec 2014 | Farber Specialty Vehicles |
| 14V780000 8 Dec 2014 | Kingmor Supply, Inc. |
| 14V766000 2 Dec 2014 | Double K Inc. |
| 14V767000 2 Dec 2014 | Halcore Group, Inc. |
| 14V742000 19 Nov 2014 | Champion Bus, Inc. |
| 14V729000 13 Nov 2014 | Forest River, Inc. |
| 14V730000 13 Nov 2014 | Forest River, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2014