Gillig

Infobox Company
company_name = Gillig Corporation
company_
vector_
company_type = Private
genre =
foundation = 1890
founder = Jacob Gillig
location_city = 25800 Clawiter Road
Hayward, California 94545
location_country = flagicon|USA
location =
origins =
key_people =
area_served = United States
industry = Transit
products = Heavy-duty transit buses
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent =
divisions =
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owner =
company_slogan =
homepage = [http://www.gillig.com www.gillig.com]
dissolved =
footnotes =

Gillig Corporation, formerly Gillig Bros., is a manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses located in Hayward, CA. Prior to 1993, Gillig had also been a manufacturer of school buses.

History

In 1890, Jacob Gillig opened a carriage and wagon shop in San Francisco, CA, and was joined by his son Leo in 1896. The original shop was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but reopened as the Leo Gillig Automobile Works manufacturing automobile, hearse, truck, and bus bodies.

In 1920, Leo's brother Chester Gillig joined the company and introduced and patented the "California Top" roof construction style consisting of a hard-top roof and sliding windows. The company's name was changed at this time as well to Gillig Bros. In the late 1920s, Gillig starting producing pleasure boats and heavy trucks, and produced their first school bus in 1932. In 1937, Gillig introduced their first transit-style (flat front) school bus, and in 1938 the company moved to Hayward, CA. In 1957, Gillig purchased Pacific Bus division of Kenworth Truck Company, and by that time the company was devoted almost entirely to the production of school buses. In 1959, Gillig pioneered the diesel-powered rear-engined transit style school bus with the release of the C-series Transit Coach, and within five years the C-Series accounted for three-quarters of all of Gillig sales figures. In 1967, Gillig produced the highest capacity school bus ever produced, the 855-D, which had a passenger capacity of 97 pupils.

In 1969, Herrick-Pacific Steel purchased the company and changed the name to the Gillig Corporation. During the time they built school buses, Gillig earned a reputation for being one of the "safest" buses ever built due to the near total absence of recalls. The only recall for a Gillig-built school bus was in 1979 for rear-end axle separation issues.

In 1977, Gillig decided to branch out into the manufacture of transit buses and teamed up with Neoplan to build a series of European-styled transit buses that had the option of propane fueled engines. However, the partnership with Neoplan lasted only until 1979Stauss, Ed (1988), 66.] , and in 1980 Gillig introduced the PhantomStauss, Ed (1988), 67.] , a heavy-duty transit bus based slightly upon their previous round-body school bus platform. A State of California tax-free subsidy helped early sales, and sales were later buoyed by low-bidding on contracts and specializing in serving smaller transit agencies. This strategy has proven to be successful, as the Phantom has become one of the longest-lasting transit models in existence, and is still in production. Production of the Transit Coach School Bus ceased in 1982, but a school bus variation of the Phantom was offered beginning in 1986Stauss, Ed (1988), 68.] , but production stopped in 1993 when Gillig exited the school bus market altogether.

The Spirit, a late-1980s attempt at a medium-duty bus, did not sell well and was discontinued after a few years. In 1997, Gillig entered the low-floor bus market with the Advantage (originally called "H2000LF", and is currently called the "Low Floor"). Like the Phantom, the Low Floor was first purchased largely by rental car companies for use at their airport facilities, but transit sales increased as the model matured.

Currently, Gillig produces around 1,200 to 1,300 buses a year.

On August 1, 2008, Gillig became a Henry Crown company under CC Industries, Inc. CC Industries will operate Gillig in the same location with the current management team. [http://www.metro-magazine.com/News/Story/2008/08/Gillig-Corp-under-new-ownership.aspx] Also, the "Phantom" model has been discontinued from manufacturing after 28 years from Gillig.

Alternative fuels

In 1992, Gillig began producing an LNG fueled version of the Phantom in an attempt to produce a low-emissions transit bus, but this was later discontinued. The only LNG Phantoms in existence currently operate shuttle service at Los Angeles International Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

In 1996, Gillig introduced a diesel-electric hybrid powered Phantom, which they produced until 2006. The Low Floor bus is now offered in a hybrid powered version as the company continues to focus its efforts on "clean diesel" technology.

Currently, Gillig does not offer buses with alternative fuel engines as they have decided that the "clean diesel" pathway was more cost effective and required fewer changes to their products. However, some transit districts have converted Gillig buses to run on CNG or LNG.

In 2001, Gillig partnered with Alstom and produced the "Trolley" for Seattle's King County Metro Transit. These coaches took the propulsion packages from the old fleet of AM General trolley coaches (G.E. Traction Motor, Randtronics Chopper Control, and electronic card cage), and Alstom refurbished and installed them into new Gillig Phantom bodies with KIEPE pneumatically operated fiberglass trolleypoles. [http://transit.metrokc.gov/am/vehicles/g-trolley.html Metro Transit Bus facts and figures - Gillig Trolley Bus] , "transit.metrokc.gov", retrieved on 2007-11-18] [http://www.mehva.org/bus1008.html Metro Employee Historic Vehicle Association - Bus #1008] , "mehva.org", retrieved on 2007-11-18]

Products

Current

Discontinued

Preservation of historic Gillig school buses

Having been a major builder of school buses for over 75 years, interest in the history and preservation of Gillig school buses has grown in recent years, particularly along the west coast where Gillig school buses were most commonly found. The [http://gilligcoaches.net Gillig Transit Coach / Pacific SchoolCoach Online Museum] , a website focusing on preserving Gillig's line of earlier-built school buses, was founded by the former owner of a Gillig school bus in 2001, with the aim of increasing general awareness of the older Gillig school buses.

In 2006, efforts began to create an historical society dedicated to the preservation of older Gillig school buses under the "Transit Coach" name, and on August 12, 2006 the official dedication of the Gillig Coach Historical Society occurred at the [http://www.aths.org/ American Truck Historical Society's] 11th Annual Truck Show at the Mason County Fairgrounds in Shelton, WA.

References

* [http://www.gillig.com/ Gillig Corporation] , "gillig.com", retrieved on 2006-12-25
* [http://www.gilligcoaches.net Gillig Transit Coach / Pacific SchoolCoach Online Museum] , "gilligcoaches.net", retrieved on 2006-12-25
* [http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/g/gillig/gillig.htm Leo Gillig Automobile Works - Gillig Brothers] , "coachbuilt.com", retrieved on 2006-12-25
* [http://www.northern.edu/diasr/hallscott/history.htm A Brief History of Hall-Scott] , "northern.edu", retrieved on 2006-12-26
* [http://www.allisontransmission.com/company/pressreleases/June2001/91.jsp GM Brings Clean Mass Transit to Environmental Conference] , "allisontransmission.com", retrieved on 2006-12-25
*Stauss, Ed (1988). The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses, Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications. ISBN 0-9619830-0-0

Notes

External links

* [http://www.gillig.com/ Gillig Corporation]
* [http://www.gilligcoaches.net GilligCoaches.NET]
* [http://gilligcoaches.net Gillig Transit Coach / Pacific SchoolCoach Online Museum]
* [http://busexplorer.com/PHP/FeaturePage.php?id=28 busexplorer.com Gillig Page]