AllServiceOne, based in Oxford, extends the capabilities of Wrightbus’s existing aftersales business. The business is now developing to support fleets across a range of industries, servicing all makes, all models and all technologies. There are also vehicle crash repair and refurbishment capabilities, as well as packages to enable costs to be fixed over a vehicle’s lifetime. Customers will benefit from nationwide engineer support for servicing, repairs and diagnostics, plus parts. With the help of Wrightbus’s telematics package Uptime 365, AllServiceOne will keep fleets running. Training will also be offered.
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s earned recognition (ER) scheme has launched a new module to help bus and coach operators apply for membership for The Guild of British Coach Operators. Like the DVSA’s ER scheme, The Guild of British Coach Operators membership is limited and requires high standards in maintenance reporting and driver management. After the ER audit standards were updated in the summer, they have been linked with the scheme, which previously only allowed a Lloyd Morgan audit. ER manager Phil Breem said: “It’s important that Earned Recognition develops; we don’t want it to be stagnant.” DVSA is also trialling new signboards for Earned Recognition (pictured below) that can be carried in vehicles, which was previously disallowed.
Equipmake has shown a zero-emission repower of the New Routemaster double-decker bus. The New Routemaster has had its hybrid drivetrain completely replaced with Equipmake’s Zero Emission Drivetrain (ZED) featuring the HTM 3500 electric motor, generating 3,500Nm torque at 1,000rpm, and 400kWh battery, enabling an in-service range of 150mi. Pre-service trials have started in London, operated by Metroline. Charging infrastructure at Metroline’s Holloway depot, alongside battery data analytics for the bus, is being provided by Zenobē, the EV fleet and battery storage specialist. It also showed an exploded EV powertrain, pictured, left.
Freeway presented the Go-Digital Bus, a live-connected double-decker supplied by bus operator Go-Ahead Ireland. The bus is fitted with smart systems that monitor onboard sensors. The technology on show is already in use at Go-Ahead’s Dublin bus operations. It’s part of Freeway’s Connected Workshop that sees data pooled from apps used by drivers for their walk-around checks and from onboard systems via Stratio’s AI platform. Software processes the data to provide oversight of vehicle status, with defects and compliance issues highlighted on colour-coded screens.
Mellor, previously known for its van conversions or coachbuilt buses, had two main reasons to develop its Sigma integral full-electric bus launched earlier this year, according to Mark Clisset, sales director. First is that those bus models didn’t qualify for government Zebra funding, which requires a minimum of 23 passengers. Second is that its experience converting diesel-powered vehicles into EV requires a number of compromises in product design. As a result, the company has contracted bodies-in-white from Chinese supplier Wisdom. The Sigma range includes six models, increasing in metre-long increments of length, from the 7m-long 7 (pictured below) to 12m-long 12, in two families and a number of floor height and accessibility variations. Since product launch in February, 100 orders have been received. The design philosophy is to reduce weight to extend working range. “We are chasing weight, not range.” It fits a 127kWh battery pack as standard.
Scania, for the first time in the UK, showed its new-generation coach chassis, originally launched in Belgium in 2019 at Busworld Europe. It features significant remodelling of the driver area, and a higher-capacity front axle (8.2t instead of 7.1t previously). Following the show, a Scania/Irizar i6s coach, also shown, will go into fuel efficiency testing: a 6-8% improvement is expected. Finally, there was a stripped-down full-electric city bus chassis (for single or double deck, pictured above left) featuring independent front suspension, Scania e-motor, two-speed gearbox and ZF rear axle. The company is reportedly looking for UK bodybuilders.
Tachosys previewed a new remote tachograph download system said to feature faster processing, greater encryption and better Wifi connectivity. The new digiDLH (which stands for ‘hub’, pictured below in a mock-up) automatically scans for nearby Bluetooth tags, temperature sensors and trigger buttons, and feeds all of that data into a central point. As it shares the case design with the previous model, it is a direct swap, but features an extra antenna. A February 2023 launch is scheduled, with add-ons to come.
At the showfloor stage, newly appointed minister for buses in the Department for Transport, Richard Holden, opened the second day of the show by saying that the exhibits on display showed a confident sector bouncing back from the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Later, senior traffic commissioner Richard Turfitt said that operators are responsible for the management of their licence and having enough knowledge to hold maintenance contractors to account. “One of the things we highlighted in our report to the secretary of state was the number of operators that come to a public inquiry before us because they have relied on a maintenance contractor who has not advised them on what they need to do,” he added. Turfitt recommends operators quiz their contractors, asking, for example ‘What is your first-time pass rate?’ ‘What facilities do you have?’ ‘Are your fitters qualified?’
BOX: in brief
ADL relaunched its AD24 parts supply system with a new website interface. Part search is linked to VIN, and also offered are parts and service manuals. The company undertakes to supply parts for vehicle models for 15 years after the start of production. It is also used by some 50 travelling engineers.
Eclipse showed the Jaltest ADAS calibration system, featuring laser alignment system and OEM-specific calibration boards.
Journeo‘s latest release of Journeo Portal generates insight from on-vehicle systems, telematics, CCTV, driver behaviour and passenger counting. Director of fleet systems Mark Johnson says that the system is already used by Abellio, First Group and Arriva to improve system maintenance procedures, among other functions.
Stratio showed off its real-time EV battery monitoring system, the Battery Cortex Project, based on research conducted by Stratio, Caetano Bus and the University of Halmsted (Sweden).