A 49-seater with a toilet, promised twice for Saturday
On Saturday you have a golf society going to a course two hours away, and they were promised a coach with a toilet and tables. You also have a hen party wanting a coach to a racecourse, and the salesperson told them the coach would have a toilet too. You have one 49-seater with a toilet available that day. The other toilet coach is booked in for its safety inspection.
The planner allocates the toilet coach to the golf society, not knowing the hen party was promised one too. On Friday afternoon the hen party organiser rings to check. There is a scramble to hire in a coach from a neighbouring operator, and the price you quoted no longer covers it.
The wall chart shows registrations, not features
Allocation looks like putting a vehicle against a job. In practice it means matching seat count, features, luggage space, driver licence categories and vehicle availability, and the information needed sits in different places.
- Features promised to the customer are in the quote email, not on the booking.
- The wall chart shows fleet numbers or registrations, not what each vehicle has.
- Workshop days, inspections and vehicles off road are on a separate list.
- Seat counts vary between similar vehicles, and some have seats removed for a lift or tables.
- Sub-hired vehicles are added to the chart by hand with no feature details.
Wrong vehicles cost refunds and reputation
Turning up without the promised toilet on a long run, or with a coach too small for the luggage on an airport job, means an unhappy group and often a partial refund. Last-minute hiring in costs more than you quoted. A vehicle booked for work when it is due in the workshop means either skipping the slot, which your maintenance planner will not like, or moving the job.
It also costs the office time: checking allocations the day before by phoning the workshop and reading back through quote emails.
An allocation board that knows the fleet
We build an allocation board around a proper record of each vehicle.
- Every vehicle has a profile: seats as currently configured, toilet, tables, wheelchair lift and wheelchair spaces, luggage capacity, seat belts, air conditioning, and the licence category needed to drive it.
- When a quote is accepted, the features promised become fields on the booking, not a line in an email, so the allocation board knows the requirement.
- Workshop bookings, safety inspection slots and vehicles off road are shown on the same board, from your maintenance records or a shared calendar.
- When the planner allocates a vehicle, the board checks it against the booking's requirements and against workshop time, and warns about any mismatch.
- Unallocated bookings are listed with suitable vehicles suggested, and days where demand for a type (for example toilet coaches) exceeds supply are highlighted in advance.
- Sub-hired vehicles are added with their features, so the check still works when you hire in.
| Check | What the board does |
|---|---|
| Seats enough for the group | Compares configured seats with passenger numbers |
| Features promised | Matches toilet, tables, lift and luggage needs |
| Vehicle in workshop | Shows inspection and repair slots on the board |
| Driver can drive it | Checks the licence category needed |
| Demand for a type exceeds fleet | Highlights the day before it is too late |
If your coach operator software already stores vehicle features and workshop days, we make better use of it rather than building a separate board.
Planning the weekend with the board
On Tuesday, the board shows Saturday has two bookings needing a toilet coach and only one available because the other is in for inspection. The office has four days to decide: move the inspection slot with the workshop, hire in a suitable coach at a known cost, or talk to one of the customers. It is a planned decision, not a Friday afternoon scramble.
When allocations are made, the driver's job sheet shows the vehicle and its features, so the driver knows the group expects tables and a working toilet and can check them before leaving the yard.
Does allocation depend on memory?
- Features promised to customers are only in quote emails.
- A group has been sent a coach without something they were promised.
- Workshop and inspection days are on a separate list from bookings.
- Clashes for toilet or lift coaches are found close to the day.
- Hired-in vehicles are allocated without knowing their features.