The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Blue Bird All American and Vision transit buses. The primary and secondary air brake gauges on the instrument cluster may intermittently indicate "0 PSI" instead of the correct air pressure in the tanks. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 121, "Air Brake Systems."
The risk
If the gauges do not correctly display the air pressure that is in the tanks, the operator will not be able to know when the air pressure is actually dropping, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and dealers will update the display software, free of charge. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R18ZE-NSB.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018, 2019 |
Components: SERVICE BRAKES, AIR | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018 | 0 | 19 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 | 2 | 26 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
Other electrical system recalls in 2018
105 of the 912 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2018 concerned the electrical system; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 18V946000 31 Dec 2018 | Arcimoto Inc |
| 18V933000 27 Dec 2018 | Forest River, Inc. |
| 18V930000 21 Dec 2018 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 18V929000 21 Dec 2018 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 18V917000 20 Dec 2018 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
| 18V921000 20 Dec 2018 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 18V895000 19 Dec 2018 | Dennis Eagle Inc. |
| 18V909000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2018