Distinctive

Distinctive Systems

Industry Leading Software for Coach, Bus and Tour Operators

Welcome to Distinctive Systems

Distinctive Systems has been established for over 40 years and is the world’s leading supplier of management software for coach, bus and tour operators. From our head office in the UK and national offices in the USA and Australia, we support our clients in the daily use of over 2,600 of our latest Microsoft SQL Server based systems.

POWERFUL • AFFORDABLE • INTEGRATED

Coach Manager

Coach Manager is a start to finish solution for the management of private hire and contract work specially designed for coach, minibus, chauffeur and community transport operators.

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Tour Booking System

Our Tour Booking System is a complete management solution for individual passenger reservations on extended tours, day excursions and express services.

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Vehicle Maintenance System

Our Vehicle Maintenance System is a purpose designed workshop management and maintenance planning package for vehicles subject to DVSA annual inspection.

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Coach Manager is a start to finish solution for the management of private hire and contract work specially designed for coach, minibus, chauffeur and community transport operators.

Our Tour Booking System is a complete management solution for individual passenger reservations on extended tours, day excursions and express services.

Our Vehicle Maintenance System is a purpose designed workshop management and maintenance planning package for vehicles subject to DVSA annual inspection.

Software from Only £97.50 a Month

Why Choose Distinctive Systems?

Over the last 40 years Distinctive Systems has established a reputation for providing the absolute ultimate in software for coach operators. The depth of our industry knowledge combined with our dedication to working to the very highest of standards has resulted in a range of software that offers the best possible solution for any operator.

We provide: -

  • By far the most comprehensive systems on the market with tens of thousands of development hours behind each one
  • Simplified Express and limited capacity versions of our systems ensure they are cost effective for even the smallest of operators
  • A pay monthly subscription pricing option with no upfront costs covering the use of our software, training and ongoing support
  • An expert sales team with years of industry experience gained using our systems while working for respected coach operators
  • In-depth demonstrations to ensure you fully understand our systems before deciding whether to go ahead
  • A highly skilled training and support team with years of experience gained using our systems while working for well known coach operators
  • Inclusive training tailored to the type of work you do and to the needs of your staff
  • Unlimited email and telephone support covering every aspect of your ongoing use of our systems provided by the same team
  • An annual places allowance for new starter or top-up courses held at our York office and delivered by the same team
  • Unlimited access to regular new starter and top-up courses delivered online via GoToWebinar by the same team
  • A highly professional technical team to provide support on the use of our software on your hardware, network and cloud infrastructure
  • The chance to meet our sales, training, support and development teams at trade shows, awards dinners and operator meetings
  • A rock solid financial standing that ensures we will always be here to help when you need us

Recent News

The latest news from Distinctive Systems - product launches, show reports, awards, press coverage and other company news.

Distinctive Systems at Both November Shows

24/10/2024

Distinctive Systems will be exhibiting at both the CTTC Coach & Bus Show 2024 in Dublin on 2nd-3rd November and Euro Bus Expo 2024 at Birmingham's NEC on 12th-14th November.

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Distinctive Systems Welcomes New Developers

24/10/2023

Distinctive Systems is delighted to welcome two new members of staff to our development team.

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All New Driver App Released

17/05/2023

Our all new Driver App allowing drivers to view their bookings and perform daily walk-around checks has now been released.

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Latest Classroom and Online Training Courses

03/10/2022

Our latest classroom and online training courses are designed to help you and your staff get the maximum possible benefit from our systems.

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Forthcoming Events

Distinctive Systems will be exhibiting at the following events.

Euro Bus Expo 2024

12th - 14th Nov 2024

Euro Bus Expo returns to the NEC, Birmingham on 12th - 14th November 2024. The event will showcase all the latest buses, coaches, mini and midi vehicles, equipment, components and services.

BIC National Conference 2024

20th - 22nd Nov 2024

The BIC National Conference 2024 will be held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart, Tasmania on 20th - 22nd November.

ABA Marketplace 2025

1st - 4th Feb 2025

The American Bus Association Marketplace is an appointment-based show using innovative methods and technologies for a more individualistic experience, resulting in the greatest ROI to grow your business.

UMA Motorcoach Expo 2025

20th - 23rd Feb 2025

Each year nearly 2,000 industry professionals and vendors gather at UMA’s EXPO for all-inclusive access to top-of-mind education sessions, the latest products, services and valuable networking opportunities with industry peers and colleagues.

 

We are a validated IT systems provider for the DVSA Earned Recognition Scheme

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) earned recognition scheme requires that operators are able provide a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for maintenance measures, including a complete set of safety inspection records, safety inspections completed within the stated frequency and vehicle & trailer MOT initial pass rates. In return, the operator's vehicles are less likely to be stopped for roadside inspections, saving both time and money.

Our Vehicle Maintenance System can handle all the system requirements and IT reporting needs for operators to prove they meet the required vehicle standards.

The scheme was officially launched on the 24th April 2018. At the end of the pilot phase, the DVSA classified a total of nine coach operators as founder members. Of these, seven were our clients and gained their acceptance onto the scheme using VMS. For further details please see our original news item covering their success and how we were able to help them.

Our Latest Driver App is Free of Charge

Available free of charge to every operator using Coach Manager, TBS or VMS, our Driver App includes the ability for drivers to perform their daily walk-around check and report any defects.  Via Coach Manager, it also allows drivers to view a list of the bookings they have been allocated to, along with all the details, and be guided through each one in driving mode.

† A current subscription or software maintenance agreement is required for one of our three main systems (Coach Manager, TBS or VMS).

 

 

Download the Driver Walk-around Check App on the App Store Get the Driver Walk-around Check App on Google Play

Apple and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Android, Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Coach Hire Exchange is a free of charge cloud-based passenger recovery and job exchange service for coach and minibus operators.

It is designed to help operators find immediate assistance in the event of a breakdown, or any other situation where passengers need to be picked up and transported as soon as possible.  It also makes it easy for operators to find another operator to cover a planned job they need to contract out.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

  • Stephen Millar

    Managing Director, Dorgan’s Group (Dublin & Newry)

    The Coach Manager software by Distinctive Systems is essential to run Dorgan’s Group Vehicles. We also use VMS to manage our own current fleet of 30 vehicles as well as 164 other vehicles which we look after for our Maintenance Management customers. Distinctive Systems software is probably the best available to the coach industry worldwide.

  • Doug Nyman

    Sunbury Coaches

    We have been using TBS to manage the tours and client base for our Travel Club. We have found the system to be invaluable in terms of productivity improvements, particularly in relation to the inbuilt reports. TBS has allowed our sales staff to spend more time selling our product, rather than spending valuable time on administrative tasks such as invoicing, receipting and preparing tour departure reports. The comprehensive client database and sales ledger have also proven to be a very useful marketing tool, allowing us to actively target specific segments of our client base.

  • Dennis Lyons

    Vice President, DATTCO, Inc.

    When DATTCO set out to replace our legacy system we knew we needed two things; a software solution that offered us the versatility to do things the way our business dictates and a partner that understood our needs. We found both in Distinctive Systems.

  • Phil Stonestreet

    Stonestreet’s Coaches

    We have been using Distinctive Systems VMS for 3 years and have found a dramatic improvement in our ability to capture parts and labour costs. The system further provides us with an accurate prediction of when scheduled maintenance is required and ensures compliance to our regulatory authority.

  • Matt Baird

    Organ’s Coaches

    Coach Manager has totally changed the way our operation runs and has made it much easier for us to manage our resources more efficiently and effectively by combining rostering, quoting, fleet & staff management and invoicing all into the one system.

Contact Us

For further details, or to arrange a no obligation demonstration please call us on 01904 692269 or email sales@distinctive-systems.com