Thomas Built Buses of Georgia

Gary has worked in the school bus parts and service arena for over 15 years and has over 25 years of experience in the heavy-duty trucking industry. Gary is someone who always puts his customers first and loves partnering with the school systems. This is his passion and if you talk to him, you can hear it in his voice. He is so grateful to be leading the Thomas Bus of Georgia team and will always be there to help our school systems with their needs.

Dwayne Bethune has been with Peach State Truck Centers for 30 years. He is the Thomas Bus Service Coordinator and Thomas Built Buses trainer for the state of Georgia. He has taught classes in Georgia, North Carolina, and Nevada, and in 2022 he hosted an educational event for hundreds of technicians.

Dwayne has been in the transportation industry since 1987 and has been working with school buses since 2005. He enjoys working with Pupil Transportation customers to repair buses, share technical advice, and practice safety. When he's not working with Peach State Truck Centers or teaching classes, he likes to spend time with family, as well as camping and drag racing.

Richard originally worked in the sales and facility maintenance industries for 20 years. Then he started his school bus career as a bus mechanic trainee at Oconee County Schools in Georgia. For four years, he performed 20-day inspections, changed brake shoes and drums, and checked tie rod ends and kingpins. Then he moved to Shop Supervisor for Oconee County for the next three years. During this time, their team worked to revamp their program with better tools and training to better serve their school bus drivers. Everyone on their team had to fill in as bus drivers and realized the responsibility and stress that they had on them - safety rules to follow, teachers to work with, parents to deal with, and the kids!

Now he has the opportunity to sell, what he believes is the best school bus around, a Thomas Built School Bus! He truly loves his job! After working so hard to make his bus shop better, he gets to see how so many other shops do it, while getting them the busses they need. He says, “I’m excited when I am successful in selling buses, but I promise I’m just as excited when I feel I’ve helped some other bus shop out because of my former experience.”

Benny is not just a Thomas Built Buses salesperson with Peach State, he is a partner with the local school systems he serves. He has 28 years of experience working in local school systems. 23 of those years, he was the transportation director for Fannin County. By the time he retired from working in the school system, he worked his way up to assistant superintendent and president of the GAPT. He knew about Thomas Bus of Georgia because he was a loyal customer himself. After he retired, he knew he was not done working, so he reached out to the Peach State Thomas Bus of Georgia team and joined the team in March of 2019 to continue to make a positive difference in his local school systems.

Benny states that his goal as a salesman is to ensure his school systems have a smooth purchasing process and always have what they need. He knows well what the school systems need, as he was in their shoes not long ago. His experience and empathy make him the perfect partner for schools’ transportation needs.

Rebecca has been with the company for almost five years and loves the integrity and pride that is present at Peach State Truck Centers. She is dedicated to doing her job well and it is refreshing to work with people just as passionate. As a sales coordinator, she takes the customers’ bus customizations and puts them on paper, so the factory can build the perfect bus for them. She is proud to work for such a reliable, safe bus brand and believes in the product. She has two daughters who ride the bus to school and feels secure sending them off on a Thomas Bus. When not working, her family and three dogs keep her busy.

Kenneth Williams is a retired veteran who served his country honorably for 24 years in the United Stated Air Force. His 36 years in maintenance and operations gives him an ideal insight of what a customer deals with daily. Kenneth listens, speaks, and understands the language of a school system, especially the school bus transportation world. He worked for the Dougherty County School System for 12 years as the Transportation Director. He was responsible for maintenance, purchasing of buses, and overseeing transportation operations. In addition to those duties, he also oversaw special education transportation services which included hiring special education drivers and ensuring they met all regulatory requirements.
Kenneth worked with one of Peach State’s Thomas Bus salesmen, and this relationship led to a job offer. He loved working with the school systems and continues his career with the Thomas Bus of Georgia team making sure to meet all their needs. Now his knowledge is available to his entire territory and his customers are forever grateful.