Fleet and drivers

Each vehicle has a number, a type, a capacity with its unit (seats, for example) and a status: available, assigned or in maintenance. The fleet roster shows the whole fleet at a glance, so the dispatcher never assigns a coach that is in the workshop or too small for the group.

Drivers and staff are recorded as people linked to their user accounts, with their role title and whether they are active. Because every driver logs in as themselves, the stops and completion evidence they record carry their name, and nobody can submit evidence on another driver’s behalf.

The operations manager owns the fleet and staff records; the dispatcher assigns them to trips.

• Status on every vehicle. Available, assigned or maintenance, kept current.
• Capacity checked. Vehicle capacity is compared with the travellers on the trip.
• Named drivers. Each driver’s actions are recorded under their own login.

List every vehicle with number, type and capacity, and every driver with their user account. Agree who changes vehicle status and how maintenance is recorded. Decide whether subcontracted vehicles and drivers are recorded the same way. Prepare examples of a vehicle going into maintenance, a driver leaving and a subcontracted coach.

A minibus is booked into the workshop for brakes. The operations manager sets it to maintenance, and it disappears from the dispatcher’s available choices. A trip that had it assigned is reassigned to another minibus of the same capacity before approval, and the trip record shows the change.

When the minibus comes back, it is set to available again. Because the driver who usually takes it logs in as themselves, the stops and evidence recorded on the replacement vehicle still carry their name, so nothing about the week’s trips is lost in the swap.

• Fleet roster — Vehicles by available, assigned and maintenance.
• Fleet schedule — Which vehicle and driver run each upcoming trip.

• Trip dispatch and run: Where vehicles and drivers are assigned.

Check the data model before loading the fleet.