How Tall is your Bus?

[Jim Eh.]

3.3528 meters +/- a centimeter or two

[Sunchaser Art]

13' 1" (highest point is the KVH Satellite. 

[sixtyseven]

85 Prevost  12'-0"

[rip]

85 Prevost 12'-5" to top of airs.

[chessie4905]

When I first pulled it into shop, it looked like it wouldn't clear so up with step ladder. It cleared by the thickness of a credit card! I had the entrance to the shop regraded slightly for more clearance.

[Melbo]

MC8 with roof airs and roof raise -- Air bags fully inflated 12'9"

Melbo

[jdpilot]

1988 MCI-102 A3   12'3"  to Roof Airs....  Have a 12ft door and have to deflate airbags to get it in the bus barn.

[scanzel]

If you are trying to come up with a safe distance between the bus roof area and the bridge structure you better give it at least 6" of a safety zone. Some old bridges may have a clearance that looks good with a good approach zone but some roads start to rise when coming out from under. So as the nose of the bus starts to rise up the middle may take a hit. We had a bridge that looked good going into it but many box trucks and trailers got stuck half way through as the cab started rising coming out from under the bridge. They ususally had to pull them out from behind after letting the air out of the tires to take the stress off the vehicle. The feds and railroad have since rebuilt the bridge but raising it up and lowering the road some, now they have a water issue at times when it rains real heavy for long periods, pump system to keep the water from building up.

[Lee Bradley]

1991 Cityliner 11' 6" at normal ride height.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

To clarify what we are looking for in this thread; someone called me and said they are building bus barn to service buses and wanted to know what the highest point on buses is that he may have to service to determine how high of a door he should install.  But please do not go into detail about why you would choose a certain height door as that is another topic in itself.  All we need to know now is they total height of your bus.

The info about bridge clearance is a very interesting note, but now that we have clarified the purpose of this thread, lets stick with the simple answer as well as anything that may affect the height of your bus if applicable. However notes about the height of buses as they apply to bridge clearance would make a great separate thread by all means.  If you want to discuss bus barns, plz start a separate thread for this topic also.

[Oonrahnjay]

... they are building bus barn to service buses and wanted to know what the highest point on buses is that he may have to service to determine how high of a door he should install.  ...

    My bus is right at the 13'6" legal height (this applies to about 35 states east of the Rockies in the US and a few Canadian provinces; the western US and most of Canada is 14').

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Thanks for the very helpful info Bruce,

I didn't realize that the max legal height of a bus in the US is 13'6" in some states and 14' in others.  That was another question the caller asked me which I couldn't immediately answer.

Does this height restriction apply to where your bus is registered or where you drive it?  I.E. if I live in CA and have a 14' high bus, can I drive it through NYC?  Or is like most restrictions, that you are okay until are involved in an accident then all hell can break loose as they claim that you exceeded their states height restrictions?

Also, I assume this is for privately owned bus conversions or is this for commercial passenger buses or both?

[luvrbus]

The feds require all over and underpass have a 14 ft the minimum clearance on federal funded highways most are 16 ft.We moved a forklift from Barstow Ca to my place that was 14ft 3in tall on the loboy Ca or Az didn't require us to buy a permit was I ever happy   

[brmax]

Something to keep an eye on is the signage directing to any certain lane for a height difference. This I have seen as bridges center lane almost always higher, but again over passes connecting some rock areas are many times minimum on one side and absolute no worry on other side/lanes, this is pretty common I believe. And as mentioned all new construction have there minimums. Is there going to be some cool maps being made electronic or is google gonna drive a bus : )
Floyd

[Oonrahnjay]

Thanks for the very helpful info Bruce,

I didn't realize that the max legal height of a bus in the US is 13'6" in some states and 14' in others.  That was another question the caller asked me which I couldn't immediately answer.

Does this height restriction apply to where your bus is registered or where you drive it?  I.E. if I live in CA and have a 14' high bus, can I drive it through NYC?  Or is like most restrictions, that you are okay until are involved in an accident then all hell can break loose as they claim that you exceeded their states height restrictions?

Also, I assume this is for privately owned bus conversions or is this for commercial passenger buses or both?

       The "legal maximum height" is the max that you can DRIVE it without a permit.  I don't know how stringent they are on measuring any vehicle (judging by the number of haywagons I see knocking down phone lines, I'd say "Not Too!!!").  That max height applies to all vehicles and is mostly applied to tractor-trailer trucks since few buses even get close but other loads (such as a forklift on a flatbed) are covered, too.  If a bus (or a stick-and-staple motorhome) is near the max, you might get measured and if you're found over, you could get tickets or made to get a permit (and maybe hire an escort vehicle, etc.); doesn't matter commercial or not.
       I applies to any permanently fixed item like a vehicle's roof, an air spoiler, a part of the load being carried, etc.  You'll sometimes see "OverSized Load" or "Wide Load" banners on flatbeds hauling big stuff.  The "Oversized" can be too wide or too tall, the "Wide" is only too wide; of course, the only way they can run is with a permit.

       As you might expect, a lot of states and localities have different detailed regs but those basic heights cover the two big areas.