July 2022 – Family-owned Tanat Valley Coaches, on the Shropshire-Welsh border, has chosen the Velociti Solutions Omnibus cloud-native depot allocation software system to improve operational efficiency and support business growth.
The investment in the depot allocation system (DAS) comes following the operator’s acquisition of bus services in and around Oswestry town centre in September 2021, previously operated by Arriva. Founded in 1921, Tanat Valley Coaches provides public bus services and school transport across a vast area of Mid Wales and Shropshire and has a fleet of 40 vehicles. The operator also offers excursions, tours and private hires, and works closely with Shrewsbury Town Football Club, ferrying their fans to and from home games, and helping supporters to attend matches further afield.
Chris Chadd, Managing Director of Tanat Valley Coaches, said: “To ensure our bus services are delivered efficiently, we needed a complete depot allocation system which streamlined work processes from allocating resources through to performance reporting.
“Omnibus depot allocation solution completely meets our needs, being cloud-based and scalable whilst providing operational control of drivers’ hours, wage payment feeds into SAGE and a reduction of current administrative processes.”
The DAS solution provides transport operators with the capability to deliver services safely and legally whilst minimising costs and providing real-time driver and vehicle management control. Together with data flows to human resources, payroll and operations, the solution will enable Tanat Valley Coaches to optimise resources and reduce administration costs.
Chris added: “As a company operating for 101 years, we wanted to bring the business forward to the 21st century with investment and start to work smarter by digitalising processes and expanding the business. To do this, we needed a partner with industry experience and a proven, scalable solution to support us as we grow the business.
“Velociti Solutions is very knowledgeable about bus operators’ needs and challenges and this know-how is embedded in the software, which is continuously being enhanced and developed to support us to meet changing market demands. We feel confident in choosing Velociti Solutions as a partner for our future development.”
Peter Crichton, Founder of the Velociti Solutions Omnibus software suite, said: “We are thrilled by this new partnership and look forward to supporting Tanat Valley Coaches.
“Our depot allocation system has been specifically designed with bus operators in mind. The software monitors and enforces drivers’ hours rules and easily manages typical industry practices such as mutual exchanges of work or rest, overtime, enhanced payments, ad hoc duties, and the splitting of work to name just a few. Having multiple pay rules and drivers on differing agreements are also dealt with competently.
“We are delighted that our software solutions continue to make Velociti Solutions the partner of choice for bus operators of all sizes.”
