We catch up with Robert Peel from Freeway Fleet Systems to find out more about their brand and exhibiting at Euro Bus Expo, on stand T62

Tell us a bit about your company?

Freeway Fleet Systems has been providing asset/fleet management software to the UK bus industry for more than 25 years. Today Freeway is leading the switch to seamless digital working taking advantage of the latest technological advances in cloud computing, mobile systems and artificial intelligence.

From the outset Freeway pioneered automation of workshop administration, working in partnership with companies including Reading Buses, Abellio and Tower Transit. Recently operators have embarked on major digitisation programmes in a move to paperless, online working and at Euro Bus Expo 2016 Freeway announced a major new mobile innovation that would underpin this digitisation – and lead to rapid growth in the adoption of Freeway across the UK and international bus sector.Freeway’s new system revolved around a mobile application that synchronised in real-time with the central asset management system. This development eliminated paper ‘on the shop floor’ allowing staff to access and complete their job cards, timesheets, inspection reports and other paperwork on a rugged tablet or smartphone. Subsequently Freeway has developed first-to-market software for managing Earned Recognition compliance and their ‘Fleet in Your Pocket’ management app won the Innovation Challenge Award at Coach and Bus UK 2019.

Freeway is designed to improve asset management, compliance and fleet maintenance, working seamlessly across different platforms from on-premises server or cloud, with desktop and mobile interfaces. The software combines functionality of a number of different systems as a seamless solution incorporating fleet and asset management, maintenance and defect management, stores and stock control, purchasing and compliance. Freeway also seamlessly interchanges data with other systems used in operations, accounts and on-vehicle.

As well as long-term users such as Tower Transit, Reading Bus, Abellio, Cardiff Bus and HCT Group, operators switching to Freeway in recent years include Nottingham City Transport, Lothian Buses, Go Ahead, Rotala, trentbarton and RATP.

Tell us about your latest product(s), service(s), promotions or launches visitors can hope to see on your stand?

Freeway is launching a Real-Time Compliance Tracker that sees live data from mobile devices and onboard sensors processed together with existing defect and maintenance records. Smart software provides intuitive, exception-based interface to provide a complete insight of the status of each vehicle with critical defects and compliance issues highlighted on colour-coded screens.

By targeting the most urgent defect rectification requirements and any outstanding compliance issues, the system makes it easier for bus and coach operators to maintain full compliance and manage DVSA Earned Recognition requirements. Live data is pooled from apps used by drivers for their walk-around checks and onboard systems. Integration has been completed with Stratio, a system that monitors and transmits fault alerts from vehicle sensors, and Wheely-Safe, a system for monitoring wheels, brakes and tyres.

Another development is a software tool that predicts the type and quantity of parts needed to maintain a fleet. This ‘smart storekeeper’ uses historic parts data and stock level algorithms to maintain optimal parts availability and speeds purchasing. The software can initiate automate stock replenishment ensuring the right stock is always available, whilst reducing unnecessary stock. Using mobile devices, engineers can instantly request parts issue and managers can automatically receive requisition requests for one-click PO authorisation. The software prevents parts-related delays in the workshop.

Freeway will also be demonstrating for the first time their ‘Run Out Accelerator’ which minimises disruption to bus operations during busy morning run outs. A Daily Defects Report provides a simple, easy-to-view screen so the workshop can see which defects are blocking buses from service. Work can then be quickly prioritised with rapid action buttons that show what needs to be done to bring a bus back into service.

Why is exhibiting at Euro Bus Expo 2022 an unmissable opportunity for you?

Patrick Tandy, MD of Freeway comments:

Freeway has tripled its bus industry business since first exhibiting at Euro Bus Expo in 2016. With software that is central to bus and coach fleet engineering operations, it is a big decision for operators; a decision they typically only take every 10 years. So, turning prospects into clients can be a slow process. Euro Bus Expo and the Coach and Bus UK events allow leads to be nurtured.

Although it’s about the quality of leads, it’s as much about building long-term relationships with operators and other suppliers. You get to meet other people who are targeting the same sector and have a common interest. So, getting in front of such suppliers could lead to business partnerships, and this chance to talk to people and build relationships is reason enough to exhibit.

Sales generated from attending Euro Bus Expo do not just come from new customers. Connecting with existing customers and finding opportunities within those businesses have been just as important; never more so after the Pandemic prevented face-to-face contact.