Operating a successful bus fleet

The Company

Busfleet Australia is an accredited bus and coach operator with vehicles based in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. With a fleet of over 40 vehicles ranging from 6 seat vans to 57 seat coaches, and a range of rental scenarios; from vehicle only, to vehicle and driver, or guides with itinerary planning, they aim to meet the bespoke needs of their customers.

The Need

The Bus operators must comply with strict operating rules required by the State. Obtaining correct licensing to own and continue operating bus tours is difficult, especially in New South Wales. Busfleet Australia required a technology partner to never fall short on compliance; ensuring they drove successful health and safety outcomes, had fleet visibility and could create a proactive service scheduling ecosystem.

Solution & Benefits

Busfleet Australia has been an EROAD customer for seven years, first using the gen-one Ehubo, then the second-generation driver-facing Ehubo2 after it was developed. EROAD’s driver-facing technology directly impacts on the number of speeding events experienced by fleets by coaching drivers to better performance on the road. As a result, the Ehubo2 has become an essential tool for creating a culture of safe driving. EROAD driver data has shown that thanks to its continuing product enhancements a 56% reduction in overspeed events across its’ driver pool over the last 4 years has been achieved. Busfleet too has seen results. “When we started using the tools, because the feedback to the drivers is instantaneous, we saw a huge drop in incidents,” said Ben Field, General Manager.

“Leaderboard and dashboard reporting gives an insight into how drivers are behaving or how a vehicle is being driven when rented out. It’s our reputation on the line if that vehicle isn’t driven appropriately,” said Ben.

Full visibility across the fleet means they know the whereabouts of vehicles, their movements and job status. Idle reports gave insight into when a vehicle is spending periods idling. “We can see now if a vehicle has been sitting for too long, ignition on when it doesn’t need to be”. Better visibility has allowed for a safer running fleet; “Safety and clarity of our people, the fleet, customers and clients are critical to us,” says Ben. He can now see up to the minute information of where a vehicle, its driver and passengers are at any given time, and how that vehicle is being driven, “safety will always be our greatest consideration”.

To keep up to date with the vehicle’s maintenance, Busfleet uses the EROAD Inspect app and MyEROAD Fleet Maintenance. “The Inspect App is excellent, we use it for pre and post-trip inspections,” says Ben. “Our drivers love it, they can upload photos and communicate any issues they can see coming. We can then act quickly to isolate a vehicle or adjust maintenance dates when required”.

“We use MyEROAD Fleet Maintenance daily. It gives us the ability to monitor all servicing from one centralised location. We have multiple people inputting data, including our third-party service providers, now the vehicles servicing data is always up to date and accurate”.