Preliminary Booking out Buses
Apart from Staff and BUSA fixtures, Clubs and Societies cannot book for more than a month from the current date. Bookings can only be taken from the first day of term (the queue can be huge on these days). Bookings can only be taken for 1 calendar month in advance, please adhere to this as it is unfair on clubs/societies that do. If the date for a month in advance falls on a Friday then the bus may be booked for any point over the weekend.For any buses required during vacation periods a letter is required from the committee of the club stating why, times, dates, venues etc. These bookings will be at the discretion of the Trading & Operations Manager.
Chris Evans (Societies) handles car bookings, but usage can be checked on GroupWise
A Club/Society can only have 2 bookers. These bookers must be entered onto the bookers database (S:/Transport/Bookers Database/Bookers.mdb), with full information so that they can be contacted if there are problems with a booking or the return of the bus. Registration takes place at 2nd Floor reception. There is a help file to accompany this database.
To book a bus the booker must present his card to the Transport Coordinator at the 2nd Floor reception.
Need
- Type of vehicle & No. of seats.
- Dates and times needed.
- Club
Vehicles can now only be booked out on the GroupWise system.
In Calendar View ensure the proxies for the vehicles are visible in the multi-user view.
Double click on cell for vehicle and start time. This allows a posted appointment. Posted appointments can be edited at a later date (i.e. adding drivers names), Appointments cannot. DO NOT ENER A BOOKING AS AN APPOINTMENT.
In subject box enter Club
Check start date and time are correct.
Enter duration.
In the message box enter the bookers' name (If the full booker registration procedures are carried out then the bookers contact details can be found on the database).
Click post.
Ensure booking is correct in multiview.
Hand out a Trip request form (yellow). All Clubs/Societies now need to fill out this form. For clubs that require authorisation for there trip inform them that they need to have the form signed by the AU.
Taking out a bus
On the day of the booking, the booking form should be brought back completed. Ensure next of kin numbers are entered on the form, and signed if necessary.Open the groupWise booking. (This cannot be edited if an appointment was made)
After club enter driver/s in brackets.
In place enter the destination.
Confirm Dates and times.
Enter Contact Number into message, plus any additional info.
Complete Authorisation sheet (green). This should not be handed out more than 2 days before the booking. This should ensure that if a bus goes off road that clashes hopefully will not take place.
For weekends, security requires a minibus information sheet (S:/transport/weekend minibuses/Hire master.doc (Write protected)) to be completed. This takes time!! Fill as much in as you can, and update as necessary. See S:/transport/weekend minibuses /Hire sample.doc for help. Save each file as 'Hire date of Sunday.doc', i.e. 17.10.04.doc. (Use Save As)
Hopefully security will get access to the network, so they can get read rights to the GroupWise system.
Hire Buses
If a club/soc needs a vehicle and there are no Union vehicles available contact Arrow 02920492222.Arrow operates on a 24hr minimum booking period. If the vehicle is wanted over the weekend then it must be collected or returned before 1200 sat as arrow close until 0800 Mon. If a vehicle is require any time between these times then a minimum 2 day hire is required.
A Purchase Order needs to be completed
•No. of Vehicles
•Type
•For Club/Soc/Staff
•From (Time and Date)
•To (Time and Date)
•No. of days
•Price
BUSA buses need to be signed by AU.
If clubs/socs are paying for the vehicle themselves in special notes write
“I hereby authorise the funds to be transferred from the X Club/Society Club/Budget A/C” The President, Treasurer or Secretary prints and signs.
The account needs to be put into the Cost Centre. These also need to be authorised by AU/Societies.
If vehicles are not paid by a Union held account, take details (Name, address, postcode, contact Numbers) ask the individual to sign. Finance will then Invoice the address.
Ring Arrow. Make sure they have vehicles available, give them the info from the order. Take the order to finance, they will add an order number and give you a copy of the order. If Arrow requires the order number urgently, ring them with it, otherwise they will receive it from finance. Enter the order on GroupWise under SU Bus Hire as you would with a normal booking, adding the order number in the message box. It is possible for more than one bus to occupy the SU Bus Hire column.
Maintainance and Buses Off-Road
The buses are scheduled for regular maintenance by the Transport Coordinator. It is his responsibility to enter these onto the GroupWise system so that people know when maintenance is due so that club/soc bookings taken at the desk do not clash with them. When Buses are off-Road it will be entered into the system how long they are expected to be off road and when they do come back on road will record this on GroupWise. The Transport coordinator will then need to inform the clubs/societies who would be using the vehicle. Information on the bookers can be found by cross-checking GroupWise with the Bookers Database.If a bus goes off the road, then the club loses that booking, unless it can be transferred to another vehicle, or it comes back on road. In some cases where the vehicle is known to be off road for several days and all the other vehicles are booked then club/socs may decide that they want to hire a bus for the period. This is handled like a normal hire, with the hire charge paid by the club (Unless BUSA). The CUB service takes priority over club/soc bookings, so the last club to book when a CUB bus is off road will forfeit their booking.
Outside Hire of Union Minibuses
Occasionally, non members of the Union will enquire about hiring Union Buses, i.e. University departments.These are charged at £50 per day plus £20 for 1 Days insurance and £10 for the second day. Longer periods will need to be discussed with the finance manager.
Take the details of the hire as for a club/soc. Get contact details for the invoice and check with finance that all is correct. If the Hirer has no Union registered driver they will need to pass the minibus test, normal procedures apply. University departments (i.e. EXREL, ENGIN, INTER) sometimes require our drivers, this will need to be put on the invoice so that they can be charged (Finance will charge this at roughly £7.00 per hour).
