The August edition of ABC explores the plethora of hard work being done by businesses to keep Australia’s bus and coach fleets well serviced and maintained
There’s plenty of data out there to suggest that a bus is the safest form of transport one can take as they go about their daily lives. Local studies, such as those conducted by the Sydney University, reiterate the point that the Australian bus and coach industry is doing an amazing job at keeping vehicles on the road and maintaining passenger safety.
The Sydney University study found that taking a bus to and from school is seven times safer than in a car or 31 times safer than walking, with well under one per cent of total road fatalities between 1989 and 2010 being suffered by bus and coach passengers.
While safety is in the limelight in our industry after a tumultuous couple of months, the sector still deserves recognition for the hard work it puts in behind the scenes to keep fleets well serviced and maintained.
A key reason that is often understated in this ability to keep buses and coaches safe and maintained is the emphasis various members of the industry put into the servicing side of vehicles. From a manufacturer or supplier perspective, recent years have transitioned their focus away from the initial features of a sparkling new vehicle and instead fixated attention on what they can offer in the form of aftersales care.
This jam-packed edition of ABC proves that many in the industry have been biding their time to parade their latest innovations in the servicing and maintenance game. Our August edition is filled with a variety of suppliers, manufacturers and operators that are doing all they can to limit downtime for aging fleets of vehicles around Australia, traversing a variety of conditions daily.
None of this is better summed up then by BCI, who feature on our cover this month. The bus and coach supplier has forged a tight-knit partnership with BusBiz, as seen on page 20. With BusBiz’s coaches completing more than a million kilometres in only a few years, BCI has been flexible and adapted to keep BusBiz’s fleet in tip-top condition at all times.
As a well-known servicing name in the bus and coach industry, Royans Coachworks doesn’t need much explaining. However, the company isn’t standing still in its pursuit to service heavy vehicles. From page 24, check out how they are intent on following the industry down the zero-emissions pathway when it comes to maintenance and servicing projects.
The predominant Volvo Bus dealer in Australia, CMV Group, also speaks about how it is expanding its servicing capabilities around its Victorian and South Australian dealer network. Its bus-focused Derrimut branch is proof that CMV Group is at the forefront of bus and coach servicing in southern Australia, as seen on page 27.
There’s plenty of diverse stories in this edition, with Endurequip (page 35) discussing its hoist product, while Irizar chatted from page 36 about combining with a global partner to improve its overall vehicle offering.
Major brands like Volvo (page 42) and Scania (page 46) also discuss their servicing capabilities to finish the servicing feature section alongside New Zealand operator Tranzit Group (page 45).
Read about Hanover Displays’ trial day for its safety duress button held at Cranbourne, Victoria, in July, and come along for the ride as Challenger talks about its latest deliveries to a loyal customer in regional Victoria on page 39.
All of this leads to a busy edition that focuses on more than just the many buses and coaches on Australian roads. We hope you enjoy this edition.
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