Q’STRAINT/Sure-Lok School Bus Industry Veteran Bud Fears to Retire

COMPANY UPDATESJanuary 13, 2020

Bud Fears (above) will be retiring from Q’STRAINT

Q’STRAINT/Sure-Lok announced the retirement of Bud Fears, the company’s Midwest regional sales manager, who served 35 distinguished years in the transportation safety industry – assisting school districts, transit properties, and para-transit operators – address their transportation safety equipment needs.

Bud established a reputation as being both an expert and trusted advisor to his expansive client-base throughout the nation. One of his specialties was conducting wheelchair securement training programs both on-site and at conferences at the local, state and national levels. Bud also excelled at determining and communicating to each client the most practical and effective wheelchair securement solution that fit their particular needs.

Bud worked with the Industry’s Best

Diana Hollander, a trailblazer in her own right and former Nevada State Director of Pupil Transportation, was just one of the many highly esteemed transportation safety professionals who Bud collaborated with to enhance school bus safety.

“I always appreciated the fact that Bud made it a point to stop by my office every time he was in Nevada to provide me with product updates, answer technical questions, and share meaningful input on critical pupil transportation issues,” said Hollander, who recently retired after 23 years of decorated service.

Bud began his prodigious transportation safety career selling roof hatches for transit and school buses. He gained additional pupil transportation safety sales experience for a school stop arm maker.

Expanded the Company’s School Bus Industry Foot Print

At Q’STRAINT, Bud represented both the school bus and para-transit segments, playing a vital part in expanding the company’s wheelchair securement market throughout the Midwest region by drawing from his 25 years of previous transportation safety product experience.

Wheelchair Securement Expert

At Q’STRAINT, Bud quickly learned all the ins and outs of the QRT series – the company’s flagship school bus industry’s occupant restraint product-line. As the QRT continued to advance, Bud’s product knowledge continued to grow and soon enough he became a wheelchair securement subject matter expert.

During his ten-year career at Q’STRAINT, the QRT evolved from a semi-automatic retractor to what is now the QRT-360, the industry’s first four-point, heavy-duty, automatic, retractable, occupant restraint system.
 

Earns Respect from his Co-Workers

“Bud is truly one of the best people I have had the pleasure to work alongside of at Q’STRAINT,” said Mike Grom, Q’STRANT/Sure-Lok director of sales for the mobility, school bus and para-transit segments. “He has done so much for our industry and will definitely be missed by everyone that he has touched along the way.”

“Bud always represented the company with the utmost professionalism and integrity,” said Jim Reaume, Q’STRAINT/Sure-Lok, director of national transit sales. “He was also determined to find new ways to help his customers ensure that their students were safe and secure every time they traveled on a school bus.”

Career Highlight

“The highlight of my career was working for Q’STRAINT, a company that is laser-focused on serving the customer,” Bud added. “There are far too many businesses out there that are only concerned with their bottom-line. This is not the case with Q’STRAINT. They have always made the customer their priority.”

What’s next for Bud?

As far as what’s the next stop for Bud in his life journey after Q’STRAINT. As a self-described “Old Air Force Guy,” he plans on supporting his community by assisting veterans. This is not a far departure from what he has already accomplished in the transportation safety industry for over three decades by making transportation safety accessible for pupil mobility device occupants across the nation.