HASTINGS, Minn. — Reliant Student Transport has acquired HALO Transportation, expanding its school transportation operations in Minnesota while retaining HALO’s employees, brand, and existing service.
HALO, a family-owned company founded by Mike Severson in 2010, operates more than 70 vehicles with a staff of more than 80. The company serves school districts across the Twin Cities area, including Fridley, Anoka-Hennepin and Spring Lake Park.
Reliant said there will be no interruption in service or changes to HALO’s routes. The HALO Transportation name will remain on its vehicles, and the company’s drivers, mechanics, and other employees will remain in place.
“HALO Transportation is a labor of love, and I’m so proud of what our team has built over the years and the capable hands that we are in going forward,” Severson said. “Time and again, when school districts had complex routes or needed someone they could trust, our team stepped up and delivered. As I planned for the company’s next phase, it was critical to find a buyer that was committed to keeping our culture, team and outstanding service to local communities intact. Reliant was the clear choice.”
Severson will remain with HALO during a transition period before retiring after 47 years in the school transportation industry.
“We’re honored to provide Mike and school transportation operators like him with clear paths to retirement that protect the legacies they’ve worked so hard to build,” said Garrett Regan, Reliant’s vice president of corporate development and a third-generation school transportation operator.
HALO’s vehicles will join more than 200 Type III vehicles operated by Reliant. The acquisition also expands Reliant’s network of more than 20 service centers across the Upper Midwest.
“HALO Transportation is a natural fit as part of Reliant Student Transport, and the high standards and local focus that have made this team so successful are not going anywhere,” Reliant CEO Tom Nightingale said. “We appreciate Mike Severson’s trust and are proud to work alongside the exceptional team at HALO.”
Reliant, formerly known as Minnesota Coaches and Affiliates, was founded by the Regan family in 1959. Its affiliates operate a combined fleet of more than 1,000 school buses, motorcoaches and other vehicles.
The company provides daily school routes, special needs transportation, athletic trips and extracurricular transportation. Reliant said its operations transport about 36,000 students each day.
