It is a new year, but it has the same old problems already. We have excellent in-house engineers. One is younger and good with technology, while another is more experienced, could rebuild anything, and never turns out a job that is not 100% right.
We keep to our inspection targets. We have failed one annual test in seven years, and that was an unduly harsh result in my opinion. We seldom have on-road breakdowns. Having said that and tempted fate, you will now see my vehicles strewn the length and breadth of the UK at the side of the road, but hey-ho.
But – and it is a big but – we struggle with main dealers. Our vehicles that are under warranty can disappear for days on end. Parked up, and despite what I am told (because trackers can’t lie), they have not been touched.
Many times, we do our own warranty work, and then the manufacturer will not reimburse us because the repair was not carried out by the main agent… which, to be perfectly honest, does not do it as well as we do, and would rather not anyway!
Breakdown at the side of the road? You may as well cut out the middleman and get a suspended tow back to base. Technicians now don’t seem to be allowed to attempt roadside repairs, and while a salesperson may make promises on timescales to attend, you are usually better off looking at a calendar than a watch!
Our location means that we often help other operators. I never take advantage of them on money because no matter how new or well-maintained your fleet is, breakdowns or vehicles off road are inevitable at some point.
We have been helped by others, and never once have I felt the charge to be excessive. Say what you like about the coach and bus industry, but we look after each other in a way that many others do not.
I like and get on well with the manager of our local main dealer. He was a top technician himself in his day, and he genuinely does not mean to let people down. The age-old “we are better at trucks than coaches” excuse is a familiar refrain. In fact, we once stood outside, and I offered to take down the ‘bus’ from the dealer’s ‘truck and bus’ sign.
Good mechanics are hard to find, and even poorer ones can do the rounds of each main agent and supplier, so the skills shortage is real enough. I know that it costs a fortune when a new vehicle is off the road, and yet suppliers do not seem keen to reimburse the operator for any downtime that could be avoided.
So if I do have a resolution for the new year, it is to keep doing as much as I can in-house, and to maintain good relations with operators up and down the country!
