Five coaches, two car parks and a county show
You have the shuttle contract for a two-day county show: coaches running between a park-and-ride site, the railway station and the showground gates from early morning to early evening. The organiser wants a coach every few minutes at peak times and fewer in the middle of the day. You plan five coaches and seven drivers in a spreadsheet, with breaks worked out by hand.
On the day, the morning peak is heavier than expected at the station, and lighter at the park-and-ride. Your supervisor moves coaches around by phone. A driver misses his break because nobody was free to relieve him. At the end of the show, the organiser asks how many passengers you carried and how often coaches ran from each site. You have a rough idea.
Shuttle work is planned once and run by improvisation
Shuttles look simple: go round and round. In practice they are a timetable problem with driver breaks and duty limits, peaks that move, and a client who wants evidence of the service.
- Loops and frequencies are planned in a spreadsheet, not linked to duties.
- Driver breaks and relief are worked out by hand.
- Moving coaches between loops on the day is done by phone with no record.
- Passenger loadings are counted roughly or not at all.
- The client report is written from memory afterwards.
Breaks and duty limits are set by your transport manager under the rules that apply. The plan uses the thresholds they set.
Missed breaks, patchy service, weak reports
A plan that does not build in relief leads to missed breaks, which is a problem for your transport manager as well as for tired drivers. A supervisor running the day by phone cannot see where coaches are needed most. And a client who cannot see the service you delivered has less reason to renew the contract, especially if a competitor offers a report next year.
Pricing next year's shuttle is also guesswork without a record of this year's loops and loadings.
A shuttle plan and a simple live log
We build shuttle planning and a light on-the-day tool.
- The shuttle is set up with its stops, loop times from a mapping service, and the frequency wanted at each period of the day.
- The plan works out how many vehicles are needed for each period, and builds driver duties with breaks and relief at a stop, checked against your transport manager's thresholds.
- Each driver gets their duty on their phone: loops, break times and who relieves them.
- On the day, drivers tap departure from each stop and enter an approximate loading (full, half, few). The supervisor sees loops and loadings on a screen.
- The supervisor can move a coach to another loop, and the change is recorded, with relief plans adjusted where needed.
- At the end of each day, a report shows loops run, frequency achieved at each stop and loadings by time, ready for the client.
- The record from each event is kept, so next year's plan and quote start from real data.
| Shuttle need | Spreadsheet and phone | Shuttle plan and log |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicles per period | Estimated | Calculated from loop time and frequency |
| Driver breaks and relief | Worked out by hand | Built into duties and checked |
| Moving coaches on the day | Phone calls | Recorded moves with relief adjusted |
| Loadings | Rough idea | Logged by drivers at each departure |
| Client report | Written from memory | Produced from the log |
The county show with a plan and log
Before the show, the plan says five coaches at peak and three in the middle of the day, with relief drivers joining at the park-and-ride. On the first morning, the log shows the station loop running full and the park-and-ride half empty. The supervisor moves one coach to the station loop, and the plan adjusts the next driver's relief point.
At the end of each day, the organiser receives a report of loops, frequencies and loadings. When the show wants to discuss next year, both sides are looking at the same figures.
Do shuttle contracts run on improvisation?
- Shuttles are planned in a spreadsheet separate from driver duties.
- Drivers have missed breaks because nobody could relieve them.
- Coaches are moved between loops by phone with no record.
- You cannot tell the client how many passengers you carried.
- Next year's shuttle quote starts from guesswork.