Thomas Built Buses, Inc. (commonly referred to as Thomas), the oldest operating bus company, was founded in 1916. The company was originally a furniture manufacturer, then a streetcar assembly company. In 1933, the company released its first trolley bus, and in 1934 – a bus. In 1936, after winning the tender for the production of 500 school bus bodies, the company concentrated its work in this direction. To this day, the company is a major supplier of school models to North Carolina.
In 1938, the company made several important design innovations, including the creation of the first school bus with a steel body. In the 1950s, export of products began. In 1957, the name Thomas Saf-T-Liner for the first time appeared. For several decades, this designation applied to all full-size models. In 1962, the company opened a branch in Canada. In 1967, the company developed the convex mirror for buses. In 1972, the company received its present name. In 1978, after years of using chassis produced by third parties: Ford, Dodge, GMC, International Harvester, Volvo, the company has introduced its own.
In the 1970s, rear- and front-drive models were introduced, resulting in the names Saf-T-Liner ER and Saf-T-Liner EF. In the 1980s, the company began to expand its model lineup, increasing its presence in the segment of transit buses and introducing Transit Liner, CL960 Citiliner models. The 1990s were marked by the modernization of equipment, beginning of the development of environmentally friendly models and the start of cooperation with Freightliner, which supplied the chassis. In 1998, Freightliner fully acquired Thomas Built Buses.
In 2000s the reconstruction of production is conducted, a factory for producing low-floor Thomas Dennis models is opened in Jamestown, the company ceases to be a family enterprise and reduces its presence in the segment of general-purpose buses, Thomas Dennis joint venture is reorganized by Daimler, large-scale product upgrades are performed. In the 2010s, the company expanded its range of environmentally friendly models and developed a small school bus.
Thus, the company continues to operate successfully, offering school bus bodies in several configurations: particularly small and small classes of capacity, standard and transit, models for commercial use: from urban to tourist, for outdoor activities (motor homes), specialized versions, created to order. Along with diesel vehicles are present in the line and models operating on gasoline, CNG, propane, and all buses meet high standards of quality and safety, for which the manufacturer is famous.