The defect
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2002-2013 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner ER, 2001-2005 Saf-T-Liner Conventional, 2002-2013 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 2013 Saf-T-Liner EFX, 2001-2008 Saf-T-Liner FS65, 2005-2013 Saf-T-Liner C2, 2003-2013 Saf-T-Liner HDX, 2002-2003 Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, 2002 Vista, and 2002-2003 TL-960 school buses manufactured from February 5, 2001, through May 29, 2012. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode.
The risk
If the stem corrodes, the door handle could detach from the emergency door opening mechanism, delaying the opening of the door and the evacuation of the bus. In the event of an emergency, this may increase the risk of injury to the bus occupants.
The remedy
DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will either replace the stems or protect them against corrosion, free of charge. Daimler issued an interim notification to owners on August 25, 2015. The recall began on December 24, 2015. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-745-8000. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-685.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner EFX | 2013 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-EF | 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2002, 2003 |
| Thomas Built Buses TL-960 | 2002, 2003 |
| Thomas Built Buses Vista | 2002 |
Components: STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2001 | 0 | 6 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2002 | 0 | 4 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2003 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2004 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2005 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2005 | 0 | 16 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2006 | 2 | 21 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2007 | 1 | 25 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2008 | 5 | 27 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2009 | 2 | 21 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2010 | 1 | 22 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2011 | 0 | 22 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2012 | 3 | 16 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2013 | 1 | 18 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner EFX | 2013 | 0 | 9 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2002 | 1 | 5 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2003 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2004 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2001 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2002 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2003 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2004 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2005 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2006 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2007 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2008 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2003 | 0 | 5 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2004 | 2 | 5 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2005 | 0 | 5 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2006 | 1 | 9 |
Other structure recalls in 2015
50 of the 863 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2015 concerned the structure; Daimler Trucks North America LLC filed 213 campaigns in all.
| 15V873000 23 Dec 2015 | H&H Trailers, LLC |
| 15V866000 22 Dec 2015 | Winnebago Industries, Inc |
| 15V842000 15 Dec 2015 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 15V839000 14 Dec 2015 | Altec Industries Inc. |
| 15V826000 9 Dec 2015 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
| 15V825000 8 Dec 2015 | Strick Trailers, LLC |
| 15V797000 25 Nov 2015 | Newmar Corporation |
| 15V781000 23 Nov 2015 | Strick Trailers, LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2015