Team-BHP > Commercial Vehicles


Reply
  Search this Thread
21,385 views
Old 12th August 2019, 14:30   #16
BHPian
 
satishv1987's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 150
Thanked: 343 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

A noob question to the van owners/experts here- do the TT/Winger have variants which have seat belts? I often see school children being ferried in these vans without seat belts. Is there a reason why buyers dont prefer the variant with seat belts? Are they prohibitively expensive?

My humble request to OP. If you are buying a van, please pick one with seat belts and please enforce their usage.
satishv1987 is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 12th August 2019, 18:07   #17
BHPian
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 110
Thanked: 150 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado View Post
If you like EECO so much, why not go ahead and buy another.
It has AC, airbag and ABS now, the only extra cost for you would be that of extra driver for 2nd van.

But woudnt that save you lot of money upfront?
It will also give you lot of flexibility IMO and faster pickups for all kids.

This honestly might be the best option. You need to evaluate lower upfront cost of buying one more Eeco vs higher running / operating costs of 2 vehicles.

A broad thumb rule:
  1. If the additional annual operating cost for two Eecos works out to less than about 10% of the upfront cost saving, its almost definitely worth it.
  2. If additional op cost is more than 20% of upfront savings, you're likely better off with one larger Traveler.
  3. Anything in between is a grey area - ultimately a subjective call

As you say, fuel costs won't double: mileage of each Eeco will less with the route divided up. Plus I guess the Eeco is more fuel efficient than a heavy traveler.

You may need to evaluate maintenance costs of 2 Eecos vs 1 Traveller, but with your limited running, this too may not be much.

If insurance is per seat, two Eecos may be cost more on this count. On other hand, you get more seat-capacity to accommodate future expansion. Flexibility in route planning = can cover large radius + cater to smaller batches better.

The one big downside (besides operating costs) I see is the sliding door. But a careful attendant + child locks could take care of this.
gautam109 is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 12th August 2019, 18:45   #18
BHPian
 
peterjim13's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Kochi/S.Bathery
Posts: 672
Thanked: 669 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfresco View Post
The Trax school van is targeted towards rural areas.
Stay away from Winger. It's very high maintenance and even the dealers have a problem procuring parts.
Noted with Thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfresco View Post
For school, you can get a 9 seater Traveller. It can be registered in 'T' category and does not require per seat tax on a quarterly basis that a vehicle registered in 'P' category does.
The 9 seater traveller may be a bit too much of an overkill for us, and the dealer did not recommend (probably slow moving from his end).

"P" category is something that we havent inquired as yet. Need to figure our whether the RTO rules affect any.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfresco View Post
For schools, Bal Vahini rules allow you to have 1.5 times the registered capacity of the vehicle. Check in your state. So a 9 seater allows you to carry 13 students.
Sure. Thanks so much for the constructive info Alfresco - Noted them all down

Quote:
Originally Posted by dicor View Post
Of-course after meeting basic requirements like seating capacity, the next objective is to minimize the down time.

The bus will need to go to the garage sometimes, if not for accidental repairs yet periodic maintenance will be there.

If ASS is close to you, you can get it serviced on weekend and get it same day. Also watch out for popularity of other buses in your vicinity. If there are plenty of Force Travellers in your area, then the availability of parts will also be easy.

As a school bus, you can not afford bus to be off duty for long period unless you have a back-up plan.
Rightly said. Infact ASS are all in reach - closest one being a large Force ASS and Body shop in about 5 mins from our school. Another 3 KM radius - we will find all the other Mahindra, Tata, Eicher and Suzuki

Quote:
Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana View Post
I have Eicher, Force traveller, Tata, Mahindra and Ashok Leyland in my school. I would rate Eicher and Mahindra best among the lot.

If you need a small carrier, nothing beats Force traveller, specially the 120 bhp version. It's very fuel efficient and pretty easy to drive.

One more tip, you can bargain on ex showroom prices for buses unlike cars. They would quote 19 lakhs, but you can close the deal at 16, even 15.5 if you can bargain.

Please avoid eeco. It's unsafe. And more the seating capacity, more is the insurance you will have to pay. I pay 80k insurance for a 60 seater bus every year, and also be prepared to spend for annual FC(we have to repaint and replace stickers and fire extinguisher every year before FC) if you are planning a school bus. Or else you can just buy a 15 seater Traveller and register it as T board.
Thanks so much PrasannaDhana - never got into the bargaining side with the dealer as yet - but shall surely keep that in mind.

Now I have "P" board and "T" board learn about.

Quote:
Originally Posted by narayans80 View Post
Being a pre-school, the attendance year on year may not be constant unlike a regular school. So this is something you might have to think about.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by autohead666 View Post
Tempo Traveller is your best option.Lot of international schools in Bangalore use them,and of course they are fitted with AC as well .
Quote:
Originally Posted by satishv1987 View Post
A noob question to the van owners/experts here- do the TT/Winger have variants which have seat belts? I often see school children being ferried in these vans without seat belts. Is there a reason why buyers dont prefer the variant with seat belts? Are they prohibitively expensive?
There are versions with Seat Belts for Traveller. I am sure the Winder with independent bucket seats might have as well.

The Eeco has seat belts but impractical to use - that too for small kids.

Quote:
Originally Posted by satishv1987 View Post
My humble request to OP. If you are buying a van, please pick one with seat belts and please enforce their usage.
Hi Satish - it would be tough to fit in ones with Seatbelts - but lap belts would be practical, given that I am talking about kids between 2-4 years of age. But your opinion is duly noted - and I shall enforce the same.

Thanks, everyone for the insights - my quest for the vehicles have been hit by delay due to the situation in the state and our efforts are directed at something else. However, while things are calming down - sharing the pic of the latest 17 seater Force I quickly inspected and some quick update.

13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?-tt1.jpg
Nothing beats the looks and the best angle

13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?-tt2.jpg
The version starts with non-reclinable standard seats, with anti-skid flooring. Nice grab handles - like large buses are there right close to the front door - would really help kids in climbing the low steps and would also help maids in supporting them alight the bus

13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?-tt3.jpg
Seats are quite neat, but storing the bags would be the challenge, they said the storages could be added. Didn't spend ample time to discuss the configurations and additional accessories. Everything including the reclining seats is all available - as factory fitment - or with the dealer.

Attachment 1904598
These wiper blades were a shocker to me - while I couldn't digest the wiper blade that my Ecosport had off the showroom.

13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?-tt4.jpg
A quick pic to show the variety and configurations of the Force Traveller range in one shot - this pic has almost all the configurations (even though - it ain't a great pic)
peterjim13 is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 15th August 2019, 14:12   #19
BHPian
 
Aditya_Bhp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: KL08
Posts: 425
Thanked: 1,133 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Do fit a speed governor in the bus, and appoint trained drivers and caretaker. If possible a GPS tracker, with the link to track it available to preschool management as well as the parents, even a camera with a live feed will reduce the anxiety of the parents.

More than the school building, its the school bus that is more visible in the eyes of the public, and will bring you more pupil, so its good to maintain it in the best possible way. I wish you good luck for your venture.
Aditya_Bhp is offline  
Old 15th August 2019, 16:42   #20
BHPian
 
porsche_guy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: GJ06<=>GJ01
Posts: 884
Thanked: 3,097 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Not suggesting anything but wanted to point out a brilliant feature in the Winger. The front door has those hinges which keep the door steady, even on a slope so they don't close abruptly and cause injuries. A smart and subtle feature IMHO that no one else offers.
porsche_guy is online now  
Old 29th August 2019, 17:19   #21
BHPian
 
peterjim13's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Kochi/S.Bathery
Posts: 672
Thanked: 669 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Dear contributors to the page, at the outset - based on the thoughts shared by you, I realise that my objective of the exercise itself was flawed essentially as I did not look at the problem and I was just working back from a solution for my interest in automotive.

We did look at our challenge, and somehow build reworked a couple of route plans and have derived at the exact pain point.

1. My current route plan with 4 trips for preschool: 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon is currently running on its optimal capacity and we are currently good there.
2. In the evening for the kids after school - we have 3 trips: One which goes out to pick up 2 kids, at 5 to drop 3 kids and at 5:30 for around 8 kids (age of above 7 to 13).

Operationally for the trips around our facility for the short pickups and drops with less than 4-5 kids. Force traveller / Winger might be overkill (operationally) compared to an Eeco (I am not keen on Winger now).

And what we have done now, is since the 5:30 trip is almost 8 to 9 KM long, we have split that into 2 and have hired a Mahindra Supro to drop the kids in the shortest proximity with less than 5 kids, while our Van does the longer route.

So our future expansion need not have a larger Van, but as rightly as few of the fellow bhpian suggested another Eeco would serve the purpose.

+s
1. Zero Maintenance,
2. Fuel Efficiency
3. Best fit for smaller pocket roads, we can pick each kid from their home.
4. Anyone can drive
5. Does short drives well.

-s
1. We anticipate a new govt rule, like the one in Trivandrum, and as one of the fellow, bhpian mentioned school vans to be at least 12 seats.
2. It will limit our capability as it may eat some resources in case if we plan for a traveller sometime soon.
3. A school with a Force Traveller with our logo and a smaller one has marketing visibility issues.
peterjim13 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 30th August 2019, 12:56   #22
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Kochi
Posts: 2,522
Thanked: 751 Times

Why not the Ertiga? Premium than elcheapo Eeco. And opening, rather than sliding doors.
BaCkSeAtDrIVeR is offline  
Old 8th September 2023, 21:52   #23
BHPian
 
peterjim13's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Kochi/S.Bathery
Posts: 672
Thanked: 669 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Quote:
Originally Posted by peterjim13 View Post
And what we have done now, is since the 5:30 trip is almost 8 to 9 KM long, we have split that into 2 and have hired a Mahindra Supro to drop the kids in the shortest proximity with less than 5 kids, while our Van does the longer route.
Hi everyone, after almost 4 years since this post - and post a disastrous Covid - the school has come back with a decent number of kids. We even expanded our place with some investments.

Back in 2020, we had even put our Eeco on sale.

Things got really better, for the last 5-6 months we have been reliant on some third-party Winger.

Now we are looking at getting our own 13-seater as the winger guy's vehicle is almost out. We plan to buy a new taxi registered 13 seater which the same driver will handle our school pickups and drops, and on other days and time, he can run as a taxi.

I am not aware of options here beyond the Force 13 seater and the Winger.

Any pointers here would help.

https://www.winger-tatamotors.com/mu...-overview.aspx

Last edited by peterjim13 : 8th September 2023 at 21:53.
peterjim13 is offline  
Old 8th September 2023, 22:03   #24
Distinguished - BHPian
 
condor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Speed-brkr City
Posts: 15,844
Thanked: 15,955 Times
Re: 13+ Seater Van for my School - Force Traveller or any other?

Quote:
Originally Posted by peterjim13 View Post
I am not aware of options here beyond the Force 13 seater and the Winger.
The Force 13 would be a safe bet, even when you want to sell it later down the road. Between these two, I would pick the Force
condor is offline   (1) Thanks
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks