Don't Travel Empty is the Job Matching web site for the coaching industry.

We are run by Operators, for Operators.

It is a unique site that allows operators to maximise profits by minimising the amount of "dead" or "empty" miles that are travelled by linking all operators together via a jobs database.

The idea is simple. Any job that requires your coach to travel empty to a destination to pick a group up, or to travel from a destination having dropped a group off is a potential "matched" job. Imagine the following scenario.

I, as an operator get a job to go from Cromer in Norfolk to Heathrow in a 49 seater coach. I quote for the job and the customer accepts. I have priced the job as I always would which includes pricing for the "empty" leg from Heathrow back to Cromer after my coach has dropped the passengers off. Assuming the passengers want collecting as well I have obviously priced for the return trip to Heathrow which will then be my "empty" leg. Assume also for convenience that the total price for the job comes to £1000.00 or £500 each way.

I belong to www.donttravelempty.com and I enter my job details into the computer. Based on a few simple criteria ie how long I am prepared to keep my coach in Heathrow and how many miles off course I am prepared to send my coach in order to maximise the chance of getting a match, the computer searches the data base for a possible "match" with another operator. This potentially allows me to sell my job to an operator who may be travelling to Heathrow empty whose miles off course and wait window for his "empty" leg allow him to pick my passengers up and take them to Heathrow for me. I know that I am getting £500.00 for the job and the operator who has matched with me is happy to do my job at £250.00 because he is going "empty" that way anyway. I then earn £250.00 for doing nothing and have the coach I would have sent to Heathrow free to do another job to earn even more money so I am delighted and the operator who is doing my job is delighted because he is earning £250.00 for "dead" miles he had to do anyway.

The data base will also, at the same time search for any potential "matches" for my coach in Heathrow and the possibility is that I may also get a match for my "empty" leg. This would allow me to negotiate with the operator who has the "full" job from Heathrow so if I am prepared to have my coach wait for two hours and go 50 miles off course I may get a job from Heathrow back to Cambridge for example and I can earn money for my "empty" leg. Should a "full" match and an "empty" match occur it is up to me to decide if I want to do my own job and then another job on my way back or sell the whole job on and keep my coach spare for another job altogether.

The benefits to all concerned are enormous.

1. "Dead" or "Empty" miles become a thing of the past. In today's economic climate to have a piece of machinery worth £250,000,00 being worked by a skilled professional and yet only actually having it earn for half a trip is madness.
2. The environment will benefit from less vehicles on the road.
3. Should you have a breakdown you can quickly log into www.donttravelempty.com and enter the details of where your coach is and a potential "empty" coach going in the correct direction could be found in seconds.
4. Should you have a tour and your driver falls foul of the change in the twelve day rule you could find an operator in the area of your tour who has a coach available to do your day for you at a reasonable cost.
5. You can advertise your coaches for sale,direct to the industry.
6. You can find out fuel prices throughout the nation at the click of a button.
7. Short of a driver? Log onto www.donttravelempty.com and find one that's available in your area.
8. Don't leave your coaches parked up - log on to www.donttravelempty.com and find a paying job for it to do today.

Common questions answered.

1. "Why should I give one of my customers to a competitor?" The reason is simple. Coaches are expensive machines to run and the chances of getting a "match" with a coach operator who would be close enough to your customer to compete on price is very,very remote. Most "matches" will be with an operator from some distance away who just so happens to be in a convenient place on a particular day. All operators are also required to agree to our code of conduct which prevents them from approaching your customer direct.
2. "How can I be sure the operator I sell my job to will do as good a job as me?" All operators will be marked for their punctuality, friendliness of the driver, appearance of the driver, safety, cleanliness of the coach, reliability and more. Therefore, when you get a "match" you can see the score for the operator you have "matched" with, and be safe in the knowledge that they have been scored by their peers, not by www.donttravelempty.com. You can then decide if to contact the operator in question. At no time are the full details of your job displayed until you decide.
3. "Will www.donttravelempty.com earn anything from the "matches"?" No, it is entirely up to the two operators to agree terms and conditions of the "match". www.donttravelempty.com charge a monthly subscription fee and nothing else.
4. "What about if an operator has a breakdown and fails to show for a job I have sold to them?" This is a possibility. As the original operator you are responsible for the customers that you have "sold". However, by default as you have "sold" the job to another operator you become their customer and they are responsible to you. We all know that breakdowns can and do occur and nothing is going to change that whether you do the job yourself or another operator does it. We all do breakdown. The beauty of www.donttravelempty.com is that if a breakdown occurs you have a better chance of getting cover by accessing the site. Also all good,reputable operators have contingency plans.
5. "What about if a job is "matched" but then the details of one of the jobs changes at short notice to make the "match" non "matched"?" Again, this is a possibility, we all know what customers are like. However, the fact that you have "matched" is not really much different to having the job as a solo job. Sometimes short notice changes can be accommodated and sometimes they can't. It is a real possibility that if a customer changes the details on any job then an operator may not be able to accommodate those changes if it affects that coaches next job. The key here is good communication between the two "matched" operators. There is a very real possibility that with enough operators on board and enough jobs in the system then there may well be more than one potential "match" for jobs anyway and a renegotiation can be undertaken.