Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Lets Try A Volvo This Time!
Bye bye Scania, hello Volvo! H431 EFT is departing soon, already replaced by a Volvo B10M (L310 PSC). They look the same but the volvo has a vicious tail!! N384 PNY has also departed recently, bought by Gloucester Limos for a school contract in the Gloucester area.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Another Departure
And so H430 EFT leaves for pastures new across the Severn Bridge to Chepstow Classic Buses. It has a gearbox fault that was uneconomic for us to attend to so I don't know what the future holds for it!
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Photos Number 8 and Number 9 - WX59 BWB
The new arrival just after delivery parked next to a Bristol RE for contrast! And a shot of the light and airy interior!
The New Additions
And so they have all arrived in the nick of time!
Our new MAN Centro is now registered WX59 BWB and the Ugly Ducklings (which don't look so bad in the flesh) are V682 FPO and W483 OUF. Did I mention that there is another Dart (N64 KBW) nicknamed Dino due to the fact it has arrived in Jurassic Coast promotional livery!
The Centro is now painted but still needs its vinyls fitted. It will hit the streets during the week ahead!
As well as the vehicles there are also new routes. The 130 and 131, with a 29A in the afternoons, will serve Sir William Romney's School in Tetbury.
Our new MAN Centro is now registered WX59 BWB and the Ugly Ducklings (which don't look so bad in the flesh) are V682 FPO and W483 OUF. Did I mention that there is another Dart (N64 KBW) nicknamed Dino due to the fact it has arrived in Jurassic Coast promotional livery!
The Centro is now painted but still needs its vinyls fitted. It will hit the streets during the week ahead!
As well as the vehicles there are also new routes. The 130 and 131, with a 29A in the afternoons, will serve Sir William Romney's School in Tetbury.
Sunday, 30 August 2009
The Ugly Ducklings
Success!
I have found two low floor vehicles under 12 years old and within our price range! The only problem is they are ugly! The Caetano Compass body certainly was not in the running for any design awards but beggars cannot be choosers!
And so on Tuesday I will head off to the Ensign used bus emporium to complete the deal! Fortunately delivery is included in the price as there are few more boring tasks than driving a bus for a long distance on the M25 and M4!
Added to the fact that our new MAN arrives next week sees nearly a fifth of the fleet converted to low floor in a week!
I have found two low floor vehicles under 12 years old and within our price range! The only problem is they are ugly! The Caetano Compass body certainly was not in the running for any design awards but beggars cannot be choosers!
And so on Tuesday I will head off to the Ensign used bus emporium to complete the deal! Fortunately delivery is included in the price as there are few more boring tasks than driving a bus for a long distance on the M25 and M4!
Added to the fact that our new MAN arrives next week sees nearly a fifth of the fleet converted to low floor in a week!
The Forsight Saga
And so the 620 saga is nearly at an end! The route was put out to competitive tender a little while ago causing mild distress to myself as losing it would have caused chaos! And so the only alternative to chaos was to win the route back!
And so an alternative timetable was promptly dispatched with an attractive price in the appropriate box leading to success! We have now been awarded the contract although the 620 service will now only run between Bath and Chipping Sodbury. The 29 route will now extend southwards to Yate.
The only problem now is finding appropriate vehicles! The contracts now require low-floor vehicles less than 12 years old and so the search for something in this catagory continues!
And so an alternative timetable was promptly dispatched with an attractive price in the appropriate box leading to success! We have now been awarded the contract although the 620 service will now only run between Bath and Chipping Sodbury. The 29 route will now extend southwards to Yate.
The only problem now is finding appropriate vehicles! The contracts now require low-floor vehicles less than 12 years old and so the search for something in this catagory continues!
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
More Route Changes
Not only the vehicles are changing! September will see two new routes (130 and 131), a new variation (29A) and also changes to route 620!
Add to this the change to route 864 through Chedworth village (starting today) and I now realise that is a lot of paperwork!
The changing or creation of a route has become a tedious process! Gone are the days of excitement about how it was going to perform, replaced by the laborious process of negotiation and registration.
The change to the 864 for example was initiated by Chedworth Parish Council who, if looking at a map, wanted the route moved a little to the right! So Chedworth Parish Council contacted us and, as the route is effectively owned by Gloucestershire County Council, then contacted them. Gloucestershire County Council then contact us leading to the postal and email systems being overloaded for a while asking if we thought this was a good idea! Whether or not we considered this to be of any benefit will become less relevant as time progresses and it becomes more of a political issue! To be perfectly honest this change, being of a minor nature, meant that there was no issue to us if it happened or not however I personally don't see any possibility of this change increasing patronage! But the machine of change continues and so a change date is agreed and the paperwork may begin as follows: -
Add to this the change to route 864 through Chedworth village (starting today) and I now realise that is a lot of paperwork!
The changing or creation of a route has become a tedious process! Gone are the days of excitement about how it was going to perform, replaced by the laborious process of negotiation and registration.
The change to the 864 for example was initiated by Chedworth Parish Council who, if looking at a map, wanted the route moved a little to the right! So Chedworth Parish Council contacted us and, as the route is effectively owned by Gloucestershire County Council, then contacted them. Gloucestershire County Council then contact us leading to the postal and email systems being overloaded for a while asking if we thought this was a good idea! Whether or not we considered this to be of any benefit will become less relevant as time progresses and it becomes more of a political issue! To be perfectly honest this change, being of a minor nature, meant that there was no issue to us if it happened or not however I personally don't see any possibility of this change increasing patronage! But the machine of change continues and so a change date is agreed and the paperwork may begin as follows: -
- Fill out the registration form (4 pages)
- Fill out the supplimentary registration form (2 pages)
- Provide a scale map of the route (8 pages)
- Write a route description (1 page)
- Create a timetable (1 page)
- Write a cheque for £60.00
And so my 18 pages must now be copied 3 times, 1 for the Traffic Commissioners Office, 1 for the Local Authority and 1 for the file. So thats 54 sheets of paper and a good quantity of printer ink!
Fortunately the Council will print the timetables!!!!!
More Vehicle Changes
My addiction to fleet changes has reared its ugly head again! M588 UBA (affectionately known as Muba) has now been sold to Ebley Coaches so that they have an appropriate vehicle for a new school contract in September.
Our new Plaxton Centro has arrived at the MAN dealership in Swindon for pre-delivery checks and should be delivered on time for September 1st!
The hired Mercedes Vario will almost certainly return in September bringing a not entirely happy association with the type to a close.
But whats next? Changes to the 620 route contract will specify low floor vehicles but there is never a suitable one around when you want one! No doubt three will come along when its too late!! So the shopping continues...
Our new Plaxton Centro has arrived at the MAN dealership in Swindon for pre-delivery checks and should be delivered on time for September 1st!
The hired Mercedes Vario will almost certainly return in September bringing a not entirely happy association with the type to a close.
But whats next? Changes to the 620 route contract will specify low floor vehicles but there is never a suitable one around when you want one! No doubt three will come along when its too late!! So the shopping continues...
Friday, 10 July 2009
The Life Of The Parasitic Operator
An unpleasant title but an accurate description of a smaller operator that feeds off of a larger operator nearby. By feeding I mean undertaking work when the larger operator is above its capacity as opposed to consuming items of plant and machinery!
In our case we are the larger operator but are receiving a reasonable quantity of work from Ebley Coaches at the moment, both in driver and vehicle hire. I remain confused as to why such a volume of work should be available when surely it makes little sense to take on work when you know that you have neither the drivers or vehicles to cover it! I doubt that they are making any decent profit margin for this work but perhaps it has more to do with the competition for coaching work in the Stroud area?
In the main though, we restrict ourselves to covering school runs so as not to get involved in the messy business of tachographs!
Making hay while the sun shines as inevitably this source of work will dry up at the end of term!
In our case we are the larger operator but are receiving a reasonable quantity of work from Ebley Coaches at the moment, both in driver and vehicle hire. I remain confused as to why such a volume of work should be available when surely it makes little sense to take on work when you know that you have neither the drivers or vehicles to cover it! I doubt that they are making any decent profit margin for this work but perhaps it has more to do with the competition for coaching work in the Stroud area?
In the main though, we restrict ourselves to covering school runs so as not to get involved in the messy business of tachographs!
Making hay while the sun shines as inevitably this source of work will dry up at the end of term!
Monday, 1 June 2009
Shopping, Shopping and More Shopping!
The cheque book has definately come out of hibernation! We have confirmed the order for an MAN chassied Plaxton Centro today and paid the required deposit. Whilst I had hoped to order two, I think a couple of low-floor, second hand vehicles would prove more prudent at this stage!
Tomorrow sees a trip to the Ensign Bus used bus emporium at Purfleet to look at some vehicles from the Capital. The cheque book will travel with me so who knows!
Whilst on this spending spree, the original office computer saw its oportunity to commit suicide and cause a moderate panic due to the fact that it is the one used for wages payments! Jim to the rescue again to provide a temporary computer whilst a new one is ordered.
Tomorrow sees a trip to the Ensign Bus used bus emporium at Purfleet to look at some vehicles from the Capital. The cheque book will travel with me so who knows!
Whilst on this spending spree, the original office computer saw its oportunity to commit suicide and cause a moderate panic due to the fact that it is the one used for wages payments! Jim to the rescue again to provide a temporary computer whilst a new one is ordered.
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