The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2021 All American and Vision School Buses, equipped with PowerDrive 7000 electric drive systems. The System Control Module (SCM) may activate the anti-rollback feature, causing the vehicle to reverse faster than expected when the vehicle is in reverse and pointing downhill with the brake pedal not applied.
The risk
A vehicle reversing faster than expected can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will update the SCM software calibration, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 10, 2023. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R23CG (SB)
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
Components: POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE
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 ALL American School Bus | 2020 | 4 | 20 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2021 | 0 | 18 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020 | 0 | 29 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2021 | 1 | 26 |
Other power train recalls in 2023
56 of the 894 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2023 concerned the power train; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 23V896000 22 Dec 2023 | Ford Motor Company |
| 23V895000 22 Dec 2023 | Daimler Trucks North America, LLC |
| 23V851000 15 Dec 2023 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 23V821000 6 Dec 2023 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 23V811000 4 Dec 2023 | Eldorado National- California, Inc. |
| 23V809000 4 Dec 2023 | Gillig, LLC |
| 23V756000 9 Nov 2023 | Hino Motors Sales U.S.A., Inc. |
| 23V755000 9 Nov 2023 | Subaru of America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2023