Eight 2027 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2 school buses are under recall because a heater hose can rupture and spray hot coolant into the passenger area. Daimler Trucks North America, the builder of the Thomas Built line, reported the defect to the federal government on October 21, and the company says the leak could burn the people riding inside.
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The recall is tiny by fleet standards, but it involves vehicles built to carry children, and the failure it describes happens inside the cabin rather than under the hood. Every bus in the population is a current-model-year vehicle, which makes it a problem caught early in the production run.
The federal recall record for campaign 26V697
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lists the action as campaign 26V697, filed by Daimler Trucks North America, LLC, with a report received date of October 21, 2026. The record counts eight potentially affected units, all of them 2027 Saf-T-Liner C2 school buses, and files the problem under the engine component. The count is a population of buses that may have the defect, not a tally of buses where a hose has actually failed, and the record reports no injuries.
The defect description is short and specific. In the manufacturer’s wording as recorded by the agency, the heater hose may rupture, and the leak puts hot coolant into the passenger compartment. The stated consequence is that contact with hot coolant may burn occupants, increasing the risk of injury. Coolant in a running engine circuit is far above body temperature, and a heater hose carries it directly to the vents and floor-level heaters that sit near seats.
The free hose inspection and the December mailing
The remedy is a dealer visit. Dealers will inspect the heater hose and replace it as necessary, free of charge. Daimler Trucks North America expects to mail owner notification letters on December 18, 2026, and owners can reach the company’s customer service line at 1-800-547-0712. The manufacturer’s own number for the action is F1043, which owners can quote to a dealer alongside the federal campaign number.
Because the letters are not due until December, a gap of roughly two months separates the filing from the owner notice, and the record does not say whether the eight buses have been delivered to districts or contractors. Buyers or fleet managers who want an earlier answer can check a vehicle identification number on NHTSA’s recall lookup, which shows unrepaired safety recalls for a 17-character VIN, although it does not list recalls that were already repaired and may not yet include some very recent filings.
A second heater hose recall on the same bus in 2026
The same hose problem has already surfaced once on the same model year in 2026. In February, the manufacturer filed campaign 26V109 for 2027 Saf-T-Liner C2 buses, with a report received date of February 24, 2026 and 70 potentially affected units. The summary in that record is nearly identical: the heater hose may rupture, allowing hot coolant to leak into the passenger compartment, and contact may burn occupants.
The February remedy was also an inspection and replacement at no cost, with owner letters mailed on April 24, 2026 and a manufacturer number of F1031. The newer filing is therefore a second, much smaller group of 2027 buses. Neither record in the federal database explains why additional buses fell outside the earlier population, and the agency record for the October action does not describe a root cause.
Daimler Trucks North America has had a busy year of Saf-T-Liner C2 filings beyond the hose. In April it reported campaign 26V228 for 3,285 buses, in which a bumped three-position door switch could cancel the amber warning lights or the stop-arm sequence and raise the injury risk for children loading and unloading. The report listed a manufacturer number of F1032 and a determination date of April 6, 2026, and it advised owners “Do Not Drive Park Outside” while the production remedy was still being developed.
A much larger action followed in August. The Part 573 report for campaign 26V522 covers 22,778 buses from 2024 through 2027 model years with diesel engines, because fuel tank cages built from an alternate material may not meet the federal fuel-system integrity standard in a side-impact test. Its record says no accidents, injuries or deaths had been reported when it was filed on August 10, 2026, and it set October 9, 2026 as the planned owner notification date, with the same “Do Not Drive Park Outside” advisory and a repair that reconfigures components near the fuel tank so they fit the existing cage at no charge.
School buses remain statistically safe vehicles. NHTSA’s school bus safety page calls the bus one of the safest vehicles on the road, and says 119 occupants died in school transportation vehicles from 2015 to 2024, 49 drivers and 70 passengers. Against that record, the eight-bus heater hose action is a narrow, correctable defect: a hose to be swapped, letters due December 18, and a federal record that currently shows no confirmed injuries.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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