This is a one-page card to print, fill in by hand, and give to whoever will be standing at the kerb. It answers the four questions that matter when something goes wrong: who to call, in what order, what you can decide on your own, and what has to be agreed with the operator. Fill it in the day before. The worst moment to work out an escalation path is while fifty people watch you do it.
The card
Print this on one page. Handwrite the details after the 24-hour driver message arrives, because that is when you will have the registration and the mobile number.
> ## DAY-OF TRANSPORT CARD > > Trip: …………………………………….. Date: ……………….. > > Vehicle: ……………………….. seats Rego: ……………….. > > Driver: ………………………………. Mobile: ……………….. > > Operator office: 02 9469 6600 (Mon to Fri 7am to 6pm, Sat 8am to 2pm) > After hours: ………………………… (from your booking confirmation) > > — > > Assemble: ………. at ………………………………………… > Departs: ………. Must arrive: ………. at …………………… > Return: ………. LAST SERVICE: ………. > > Stops, in order: …………………………………………………… > > — > > Day-of contact: ……………………….. Mob: ……………….. > Backup contact: ……………………….. Mob: ……………….. > Venue contact: …………………………. Mob: ……………….. > > — > > CALL ORDER WHEN SOMETHING IS WRONG > 1. The driver, on the mobile above > 2. The operator office, if the driver does not answer or cannot resolve it > 3. The venue contact, if the problem is the set-down point > > — > > I CAN DECIDE ALONE > Wait, up to ………. minutes – Move the assemble point within this site – Release the vehicle early – Change the order of our own people boarding > > I MUST AGREE WITH THE OPERATOR > A later finish than booked – An extra leg or extra stop – A different pick-up address – Anything that changes the vehicle > > NOBODY CAN AGREE TO > More passengers than the vehicle’s licensed capacity – Waiting or parking in a bus zone – Extending the driver’s day past the legal limit – Overriding a driver’s safety call
Why a card and not a phone note
Because on the day, the person holding the information is standing outdoors, possibly in the rain, with a phone that is being used to make the call. A card in a pocket is readable while the phone is at your ear. It also survives a flat battery, which is when you need it most.
Give it to the day-of contact, not to the person who booked the trip. Those are usually different people, and it should be.
Eight situations, decided in advance
Situation 1: nothing has arrived at the assemble time
Do not start with the office. Call the driver on the mobile from the 24-hour message. Nine times out of ten the answer is positional: the vehicle is on the other side of the building, or in the correct bay at a site with several.
If the driver does not answer within two attempts, call the office. Give the booking name, the date and the pick-up address in that order, and ask two questions: where is the vehicle now, and what time will it be here. Then tell your group something true. “The coach is eight minutes away” holds a group. Silence does not.
Meanwhile, hold the group somewhere sheltered rather than on the kerb, and keep the assemble point unchanged unless you have told the driver you are moving it.
Situation 2: the coach is here but not where you are
Common at large Sydney sites with several entrances, and at venues where the coach position is set by the venue rather than by you. Describe your location by something visible from a vehicle: a door number, a hotel name, a flagpole. Not “near the entrance”.
Move the group to the vehicle rather than the vehicle to the group, if the walk is safe. A coach repositioning around a city block can take longer than a hundred people walking eighty metres, and the vehicle cannot wait in a bus zone while it works out where you are.
Situation 3: more people turned up than you booked for
This is the one with a hard edge. A vehicle cannot carry more than its licensed passenger capacity, and no one at any level can authorise otherwise. Check the seat count of the vehicle you booked against the number in front of you before you call anyone.
Your options are to leave people behind for a second run, to arrange other transport for the overflow, or to call the office and ask what is available. Decide which one you would choose before the day, because deciding it in front of the overflow is unpleasant for everyone.
Situation 4: someone is missing at a stop
Apply the waiting policy you announced at the first stop. If you did not announce one, set it now and say it out loud: “We leave in five minutes.”
Two calls to make in those five minutes: the missing person, and your backup contact so someone is looking. When the time is up, go. Tell the missing person where the group will be and how they can rejoin. A group of forty held indefinitely for one person is a schedule failure that spreads.
Situation 5: someone is unwell
Passenger welfare is the group’s responsibility, not the driver’s. Decide who among your people is handling it before you decide anything about the vehicle.
If the trip needs to change, tell the driver what you need rather than asking what is possible, and let them tell you what is lawful. A driver can stop somewhere safe. A driver cannot stop anywhere.
Situation 6: the event has run over and you need the coach later
Call the office as early as you suspect it, not when it happens. This is the situation where the answer might be no, and the reason is not commercial.
Charter work sits inside the heavy vehicle fatigue regime. Standard hours cap a solo driver’s work in a 24-hour period and require a block of continuous stationary rest, so a driver’s day has a legal ceiling that neither the driver nor the operator can waive on the night. Waiting time beyond the booked window is also priced separately and confirmed in advance, so an extension is a booking change rather than a favour.
Early notice sometimes produces a solution. Late notice rarely does.
Situation 7: the vehicle fails
The published position is straightforward: if a vehicle fails, a replacement is arranged and the customer is kept informed.
What you should ask for, in this order: an estimated arrival time for the replacement, a time by which that estimate will be updated, and confirmation of where the replacement will collect from. Do not assume a replacement time yourself. Vehicles work from a depot at Marrickville across six Greater Sydney regions, and how quickly a replacement reaches you depends entirely on where your job is, which vehicles are free at that moment, and the traffic between the two. Ask for the number rather than guessing it.
Then make one decision on your side: at what time you would give up on the replacement and do something else. Having that time in your head is what stops the next hour being a series of small panics.
Situation 8: the venue changes the coach position on the day
Get the venue contact on the phone and the driver on the phone, and stop being the relay between them if you can. Where you have a written confirmation of the set-down point from the venue, this is the moment it earns its keep.
The five things to pre-agree
Settle these when you book, and write them on the card:
- The last service time, and what happens to anyone who misses it. Announce it to the group twice.
- The waiting policy at stops. A number of minutes, stated at the first stop and applied consistently.
- Who decides. One named person, with a backup, and the order to call them in.
- What the day-of contact may authorise without asking, and what they must escalate.
- How a variation gets billed. An extension agreed by phone at 10.40pm should not be a surprise on the invoice.
What not to do
- Do not argue on the kerb. Nothing gets resolved there and the group is watching. Escalate to the office instead.
- Do not ask the driver to wait somewhere they cannot lawfully wait. A charter coach may stop in a bus zone to set down or pick up passengers, but not to sit there.
- Do not tell the group nothing. An imperfect update beats silence every time.
- Do not change the plan by talking to the driver only. If it changes the booking, the office needs to know as well, or it exists in one person’s memory.
Frequently asked questions
Who do I call first if the bus has not arrived?
The driver, on the mobile sent 24 hours before travel. Most non-arrivals are actually position problems and the driver can resolve them in one sentence. Escalate to the office if the driver does not answer.
What can I decide on my own during the trip?
Anything about your own group: whether to wait, where they assemble within a site, whether to release the vehicle early. Anything that changes the booking, the route or the finish time is agreed with the operator.
Can the driver stay later if we run over?
Not automatically. A solo driver’s work in a 24-hour period is capped under the fatigue rules and requires continuous stationary rest, and that limit cannot be waived on the night. Call as early as you can and get the answer while it is still useful.
What happens if the vehicle breaks down?
A replacement is arranged and you are kept informed. Ask for an estimated arrival time and a time when that estimate will be updated, rather than assuming how long a replacement takes to reach your part of Sydney.
More people arrived than we booked. Can they squeeze on?
No. A vehicle cannot exceed its licensed passenger capacity, and nobody can authorise otherwise. Plan the overflow answer in advance so you are choosing between options rather than inventing one.
When should I fill the card in?
The day before, once the driver’s name, mobile and vehicle registration have arrived. Print two: one for the day-of contact, one for the backup.
Next step
Print the card, fill in what you already know, and leave the driver and registration lines blank until the day before. If you have not booked yet, send the pick-up suburb, the date and roughly how many people, and the details that fill the rest of the card arrive with the confirmation. The office contact details are here, or call 02 9469 6600.
Sources
- NSW Legislation, Road Rules 2014 (rule 183 and Dictionary), https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2014-0758. Accessed 7 September 2026.
- National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Heavy vehicle fatigue management: bus industry, https://www.nhvr.gov.au/safety-accreditation-compliance/fatigue-management/heavy-vehicle-fatigue-management-bus-industry. Accessed 7 September 2026.
