Alfa Coaches, the coach operating division of Alfa Travel and employee-owned coach tours and hotel operator, has reduced driver infringements by more than 50% and achieved ER (Earned Recognition) status since introducing TruTac’s and the CPT’s (Confederation of Passenger Transport) branded software products.
With a modern fleet of luxury Mercedes coaches serving many popular coastal resorts of the UK, Alfa Travel is one of the country’s foremost coach and holiday breaks providers. The company has a string of industry accreditations and awards to its name and is determined to keep raising its standard.
“We have always strived to be the best at what we do,” says Operations Director, Paul Bull “and key to our success is an ongoing commitment to maintaining and improving a high standard of safety and service for our customers.”
Alfa Coaches turned to TruTac just over five years ago in a bid to improve fleet efficiency and tighten the compliance-related procedures required to achieve ER status. As the company is a member of the CPT (Confederation of Passenger Transport), TruTac’s CPT Tacho Analysis and CPT Daily Checks products were the perfect fit.
“The cloud-based, all-in-one, system provides us with clear visibility and tight control across the fleet, which has improved driver debriefing processes (and driver education) and successfully reduced infringements. In 2018, infringements ‘per duty’ were running at 2.5%. Now, we are seeing an average of 1.1%.
“Plus,” says Paul, “we have instant access to clear and concise compliance data, including manager and driver dashboards with KPI reporting – all of which have ticked the requisite boxes on our way to achieving ER status in Nov 2021.”
Developed by TruTac in partnership with the CPT, the Tacho Analysis software package includes complete web-based digital and analogue tachograph analysis, supporting EU and GB domestic drivers’ hours rules – specifically for PSV drivers (including Working Time Directive regulations).
To further improve day-to-day fleet and O’ Licence management, Alfa Coaches recently added CPT Fleet Management system for vehicle and workshop control and says Paul, the advantages very soon became apparent.
“CPT Fleet has fast become an integral part of our fleet maintenance and vehicle management system”, enthuses Paul,“ and in just a few months has helped to get a grip on a raft of essential procedures including maintenance monitoring and schedules, safety inspections, maintenance document control and audit checks.”
Furthermore, as Paul points out, CPT Fleet Management seamlessly integrates with CPT Daily Checks, which enables instant cross-reference to mobile based defect reports and maintenance calendars with a full audit trail for end-to-end defect reporting. The system also provides real-time visibility of the vital information for each vehicle’s DVLA data and O’Licence information.
Plus, as CPT Fleet is DVSA – Earned Recognition approved, Alfa Coaches had the added benefit and reassurance when relying on information retrieval and processes needed to achieve ER status.
As CPT members they get significant discounts on all TruTac products and have the peace of mind knowing the systems are all approved by the industry membership body.
“I’ve said it before,” concludes Paul Bull, “TruTac’s systems are paperless, tamperproof and secure. We would have struggled to gain ER accreditation without them and going forward, there’s no question we have the right partner to help ensure the highest operational standards and guaranteed compliance control.”
