As a small operator, or medium as some might call us given our crazy ventures recently, with a varied fleet of vehicles, the right diagnostic equipment is key when it comes to ensuring that those stay at their best.
We have tried the big-name providers over the past 10 years. We used dealer-level software, but unfortunately, those parties are getting more protective over their diagnostics.
The functionality you can get out of that equipment is limited, as ultimately, dealers want you to take vehicles to them – which, I hasten to add, is becoming more difficult by the day.
As coach and bus operators, we usually have our own workshops, and the days of hitting something with a big hammer to get it going are sadly behind us. Now you need a laptop.
Nowadays, however, it is so common for people to take your money and run with no support or advice forthcoming. I am a firm believer that when someone breaks the mould and goes above and beyond, you should shout about it. So here I am: Shouting about the Eclipse team and the latest Jaltest product.
We have used its equipment for the past four years after we purchased a second-hand kit and went cap-in-hand to ask if we could register the second-hand software and get some sort of backup, which it did without question (for a fee, obviously). We put the kit on a 12-month rolling contact and away we went.
Fast-forward to when one my engineers decided to use the tablet as a wheel chock. A call went in for the software to be transferred to a new tablet.
In my mind, I thought this was the end of the world and that on the other end of the phone someone would do their best Kwik Fit Fitter intake of breath and tell me how many zeroes would be added to the invoice. But no. The friendly man from Derbyshire replied happily: “Connect it to the wi-fi and leave me to it.”
That sort of service goes a long way, and the back-office support from Eclipse has been second-to-none. Even at 2000hrs, when a Volvo I-Shift gearbox would not calibrate and the vehicle needed to be out the next day, one call and a bit of clever thinking from us both had it clunking and banging into submission in no time.
As our fleet became newer and the need for Euro VI was more apparent, the inevitable upgrade of diagnostics to a faster and more flexible unit was on the cards. Cue the Jaltest team once again.
Our old kit was due for contract renewal. We had looked at options but kept returning to the same station. A call to a lovely man named Martin and a new kit was taken on a five-year deal with all backup and updates included. It was delivered with a fancy workstation, and away we went.
We then had a visit from Paul. He ran through the functionality of the equipment and showed us things we did not even know we could do regarding ECU programming.
You are probably wondering why I have just given a run-down of our Jaltest experience. Put simply, it is because for an operator that has no experience with diagnostic equipment, trying to work out which to choose must be a hellishly daunting experience.
As everyone’s fleets continue to get newer and better, you need a system that supports you as well as your business. The peace-of-mind from the latest Jaltest software and knowing that support is only a call away is a godsend.
