What's Under the Hood Matters
The safe transportation of our passengers depends not only on our team members – but on the reliability of the vehicles we operate. Onboard vehicle technology, safety and compliance systems, routing and scheduling programs, and fleet maintenance software are all innovations that we invest in heavily to ensure we are providing the safest service possible when transporting our students and other passengers.
Fleet Maintenance
Every vehicle in our fleet – from our luxury motorcoaches to our economical school and activity buses – goes through a meticulous inspection process. Our rigorous standards are monitored in a customized fleet management software that allows our technicians to schedule maintenance, record work performed, and report on the details of each vehicle in our fleet in real time. We have an unwavering commitment to operate our maintenance department with no budgetary constraints when it comes to the safety of our entire fleet of vehicles, and have an excellent maintenance history with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles School Bus Safety & Compliance Division.
Routing & Scheduling
We use the latest routing technology to develop the shortest, most cost-efficient, and safest routes possible to transport our students. We then integrate that information into our driver scheduling systems in order to manage our workforce, allowing our team to provide coverage for home-to-school routes, extracurricular work, motorcoach, and charter trips. Additionally, all of our locations are linked together via an IP-based phone system, and our digital radio systems are interconnected ensuring each terminal can provide backup support services for each other during day-to-day operations, emergencies, or other circumstances.
Onboard Vehicle Technology
The impact of technology is far reaching. It reverberates across all aspects of our business to enhance services, improve operations, and lower costs. From the innovative safety and communications equipment on our buses to cutting-edge routing systems and sophisticated cloud IT services that keep our employees connected, Five Star Bus remains ahead of the curve in technology and fleet innovation. Our suite of software products allows us to easily expand and add terminals while maintaining a solid home base for support in both day-to-day operations, and yearly functions.
GPS Tracking Systems: Equipping vehicles with GPS not only provides the capability to locate a bus on its route at any time, but also improves routing and determining important factors such as speed, idling, and fuel usage.
Front Crossing Gates: This important piece of safety equipment not only helps student cross in front of the bus at a safe distance, but also serves as an alert to surrounding vehicles that they are required to stop, allowing for the safe passage of students loading and unloading the school bus.
Digital Camera Security Systems: An important safety tool that helps manage driver accountability as well as to assist in the safe management of passenger activity and behavior.
Child Check-Mate Systems: It is the driver’s responsibility to check for students who may be left on the school bus at the end of their routes. This system is an additional aid to the driver by providing audible and visual alerts when the bus ignition is turned off at the end of any route or student activity trip.
