Johnson Bros. Tours, the Nottinghamshire based independent coach tour specialist has used on- board telematic controls for over two years and, says the company, the system is now an integral part of their daily fleet operation.

With 150 coaches to manage on nationwide and continental routes, plus the safe delivery and collection of over 4000 school children every day, Johnson Bros. decided to upgrade their fleet management controls by installing the cloud-based routeMASTER tracking system from AGM Telematics of Corby.

“Punctuality and reliability are key to our operation,” says family member Lee Johnson. “From our local day trips to continental excursions, every journey must be executed with precision and particularly so when it comes to the care and responsibility of school children. To this end, the routeMASTER system allows us to monitor every coach and to provide minute-by-minute updates and ETAs – an asset when needing to keep schools informed as to the exact whereabouts of vehicles, which could be held up in traffic.”

In addition to traffic updates and vehicle scheduling the routeMASTER system allows Johnson Bros. to track the speed, location and idling of every coach, thereby enabling the traffic office to attend to any specific driver issues, such as over revving or excessive idling. Both, according to the company, can help to save costs as soon as a problem is identified.

“Moreover,” adds Lee Johnson, “the full status of each vehicle can be seen on the PC screen at a glance and also on our mobile devices whilst away from the office with the excellent app, which makes it easy and quick to assess any given vehicle’s situation. Also, we have the ability to monitor individual driver’s hours, which helps with driver change-overs – particularly on European routes.”

The routeMASTER system also allows ‘trip replay’ whereby the exact detail and history of each vehicle’s journey can be reviewed, all the way back to when the units were first installed. This and the various other fleet management facilities which the system provides are contained on a comprehensive reporting suite which are available with a few clicks of the mouse.

“It’s easy to use and undoubtedly helps to improve efficiency and keep costs down,” concludes Lee. “We have been in business for over 50 years and this is just another example of how we always move forward with new technology to keep at the top of our game. No question, we often recommend AGM to others in our industry!”