Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (WWV) was a tradename of a division of a vehicle manufacturer that specialized primarily in the production of school buses. It was owned by Harsco Corporation

Harsco Corporation

Harsco Corporation is a diversified, worldwide industrial company based in the United States. Harsco operates in 54 countries and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company provides industrial services and engineered products that serve some of the world’s largest and most...

, who purchased the rights to use the Wayne brand name, certain product rights, as well as parts and tooling during the liquidation of assets of the Wayne Corporation

Wayne Corporation

Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses and other vehicles branded with the trade name "Wayne." The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana, in the United States...

 in late 1992.

The BMY Division of Harsco operated the WWV function from an assembly facility at Marysville, Ohio

Marysville, Ohio

Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States. The population was 15,942 at the 2000 census, and the Census Bureau estimated that it had risen to 17,621 by 2006.Marysville's longtime slogan is "Where the Grass is Greener"...

, where it also assembled military trucks. School bus production began there in 1993 and ended in early 1995. The entire operation was closed and the property vacated.

Overview

After the bankruptcy of Richmond Transportation Corporation in 1992, Wayne's other product rights and many assets (but notably not the corporation and subsidiaries themselves with pensions and other liabilities) were purchased at liquidation auction by BMY, a military truck assembler owned by steel giant Harsco Corporation

Harsco Corporation

Harsco Corporation is a diversified, worldwide industrial company based in the United States. Harsco operates in 54 countries and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company provides industrial services and engineered products that serve some of the world’s largest and most...

.

BMY specialized in assembly of the "Big Foot," a five-ton truck whose tires partially deflated for sand travel. Truck sales had dropped off considerably after the end of the major actions of the 1990 Persian Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

. As a result, management searched for a secondary product line to fill in slow periods between military truck orders.

School bus assembly of several Wayne models commenced at the BMY facility located near Marysville, Ohio

Marysville, Ohio

Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States. The population was 15,942 at the 2000 census, and the Census Bureau estimated that it had risen to 17,621 by 2006.Marysville's longtime slogan is "Where the Grass is Greener"...

 in 1993; for the first time since the 19th century, Waynes were not built in Richmond, Indiana

Richmond, Indiana

Richmond is a city largely within Wayne Township, Wayne County, in east central Indiana, United States, which borders Ohio. The city also includes the Richmond Municipal Airport, which is in Boston Township and separated from the rest of the city...

. The WWV name was adopted to reflect the addition of the products at BMY, which was often also called BMY-WWV. However, BMY-WWV was entering a tough market already plagued by over-capacity of the other school bus body companies. Additionally, the military truck order volume did not improve; truck assembly at the Marysville plant ended in June 1994.

Harsco announced a deal in January, 1995 to sell the BMY-WWV operation to Warrwick Industries, a Goshen, Indiana

Goshen, Indiana

Goshen is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the northern...

-based commercial bus manufacturer of Goshen Coach products. After the deal with Warrwick Industries not consummated, Harsco ended bus assembly at the Marysville plant in June 1995.

Products

Wayne Wheeled Vehicles purchased the rights to the Wayne product line and returned the full-size Lifeguard

Wayne Lifeguard

The Wayne Lifeguard is a type C school bus built by Wayne Corporation, introduced in 1973. Produced until Wayne Corporation declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in late 1992, the Lifeguard was also produced by successor Wayne Wheeled Vehicles until their closure in 1995...

 conventional and Lifestar transit-style school buses to production. The most notable change was the change in chassis supplier for the Lifestar after the 1992 model year. Instead of using the International 3900

International 3900

The International 3900 was a front-engine Type D bus chassis manufactured by Navistar International, used for school bus applications. It was the replacement for the 1853-FC chassis, based on the S-Series "Schoolmaster" introduced in the late 1970s...

 chassis (shared with the AmTran Genesis), WWV switched to an all-new chassis supplied by Crane Carrier Corporation

Crane Carrier Corporation

Crane Carrier Company is a manufacturer that specializes in construction truck and garbage truck chassis. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it was established by Samuel Zeligson in 1946, along with the affiliated Zeligson Trucks. The primary design of CCC's trucks are Cab-Beside-Engine or half-cabs,...

.

BMY-WWV also produced hundreds of Wayne Chaperone models built on G30 cutaway van chassis

Cutaway van chassis

Cutaway van chassis are used by second stage manufacturers for a wide range of completed motor vehicles. Especially popular in the United States, they are usually based upon incomplete vans made by manufacturers such as Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors which are...

 supplied by General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 under the Chevrolet and GMC brand names.

Wayne Wheeled Vehicles Product Line
Model Name	Chaperone	Lifeguard Wayne Lifeguard The Wayne Lifeguard is a type C school bus built by Wayne Corporation, introduced in 1973. Produced until Wayne Corporation declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in late 1992, the Lifeguard was also produced by successor Wayne Wheeled Vehicles until their closure in 1995...	Lifestar Wayne Lifestar The Wayne Lifestar is a front-engine transit-style school bus produced by Wayne Corporation and its successor Wayne Wheeled Vehicles. It was introduced in 1986 and production continued until the demise of Wayne Wheeled Vehicles in 1995.-Overview:...	RD 9000
Production	1992-1995	1992-1995	1992-1995	1995
Chassis Type	Chevrolet G30/GMC Vandura Chevrolet Van The Chevrolet and GMC G-Series vans were made by General Motors for North America. They are in the same vehicle class as the Ford Econoline van and the Dodge Ram Van.The term "Chevrolet van" also refers to the entire series of vans sold by Chevrolet...	Ford B-Series Ford B-Series The Ford B-Series was a Type C bus chassis manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1948 to 1998 and was used primarily for school bus applications... International 3800 International 3800 The International 3800 is a Type C bus chassis that was manufactured by Navistar International for school bus and commercial bus applications. It was produced from 1989 until 2004. The replacement for the S-Series "Schoolmaster", the 3800 used powertrains and components from the 4700 and 4900...	International 3900 International 3900 The International 3900 was a front-engine Type D bus chassis manufactured by Navistar International, used for school bus applications. It was the replacement for the 1853-FC chassis, based on the S-Series "Schoolmaster" introduced in the late 1970s...  (1992) Crane Carrier Crane Carrier Corporation Crane Carrier Company is a manufacturer that specializes in construction truck and garbage truck chassis. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it was established by Samuel Zeligson in 1946, along with the affiliated Zeligson Trucks. The primary design of CCC's trucks are Cab-Beside-Engine or half-cabs,...  (1993-1995)	Spartan Motors Spartan Motors Spartan Motors, Inc. is an engineering firm and manufacturer of custom-designed motor vehicle chassis and bodies. The company is based in Charlotte, Michigan with 870 employees and a net profit margin of 2.42% . It was started in 1976 by Charles Robert McManamey and a group of individuals whose...
Notes	Introduced in late 1980s, replaced Busette after 1990			RD 9000 was a prototype rear-engine Type D school bus Never mass produced.

RD 9000 protoype

In 1995, WWV unveiled a prototype of an all-new transit-style school bus called the Wayne RD 9000, featuring many innovations never before seen in school buses. However, between several lost bids for more military trucks and questionable profitability of the WWV production, BMY shut down completely and closed the Marysville plant in 1995. The RD 9000 never entered mass production. Most of its groundbreaking features were eventually adopted by the other school bus builders, but not until 5–10 years later.