On the high road with Timberbush Tours

Timberbush Tours operate a fleet of executive 10–53-seater vehicles from their base in Edinburgh, where they organise private and group tours of the Scottish Highlands.

They have been using ClockWatcher Elite for over a decade, which was followed by eSIGN, and through the relationships formed in this time with the Aquarius team, they then became one of the first coach companies with a commercial workshop to take on Asset Maintenance.

Of significance with Timberbush is how the workshop uses Asset Maintenance to manage not only its own fleet, but also the vehicles from external customers – with the software enabling them to manage these two very different work elements separately, but on one digital platform, with one log-in.

For their own requirements Timberbush uses Asset Maintenance to schedule, manage and report all areas of fleet management related to vehicle maintenance / inspection. They also benefit from the flexibility of the system, and have created their own customised checks based on their own business needs. This includes a Health Check, as the vehicles, which can be put through their paces in the Highland terrain, are regularly given a health check. For ease of management and transparency, the software gives them a live audit trail of all the legally required maintenance services, alongside the proactive checks carried out.

As a commercial workshop with external customers, this audit trail is also important for exercising due diligence when it comes to vehicle safety.  For example, if the workshop has inspected a vehicle and made recommendations that the owner chooses not to do, and then that vehicle is involved in an investigation or accident, Timberbush need to be able to show the DVSA their record of inspection. With Asset Maintenance they have a full audit trail for all our PMIs. 

Timberbush can also be credited for introducing the idea of adding Email Alerts into Asset Maintenance, which was deemed commercially viable by the in-house Aquarius team and rolled out for the benefit of all customers.  For workshops operating commercially, the Email Alerts are used to alert key personnel in Timberbush on activities, i.e. accounts to prompt an invoice, and to inform customers that their PMI is complete and the vehicle is ready for collection.

Mark Thornton, Head of Operations at Timberbush said: “With a relatively new workshop, having Aquarius as our support in the background has been instrumental in ensuring we remain compliant with maintenance requirements, while also helping us streamline both customer bookings and our own repairs. The team at Aquarius are highly responsive and knowledgeable across the various aspects they cover, from tachographs to PMIs.”

For further information contact the Aquarius team via www.aquariusit.co.uk