A pre-trip record for every bus, every operating day
Before the first passenger trip of the day the driver scans the tag, walks the bus, checks the emergency exits, the wheelchair lift and the signage, and signs. The record names the person, the date, the bus and the result. A bus with an open critical defect shows as off road on the depot board until the fault is cleared and signed off.
Why it matters for bus operators
Victoria (Bus Safety Act 2009, Safe Transport Victoria): a pre-trip inspection before the first passenger-carrying trip each operating day, recording the person, date, bus and result against a checklist. A bus must not operate with identified defects. Records are kept in English for at least three years, with an internal audit each year. School buses must be inspected before the first passenger trip each day with a record kept.
Queensland (TO(PT) Act, PT 208, July 2025): records kept at least five years; daily inspections evidenced by the completed pre-trip checklist; defects recorded with type, when found, who found it, the action taken, when cleared and who cleared it. Electronic records are acceptable. Trip records carry the driver name and authorisation number.
NSW (BOAS): auditors sample three years of maintenance records, six-monthly HVIS inspection records and major defect notices, and test your system for recording and actioning driver reported faults and whether they were rectified.
Escudo Fleet keeps records of the kind Queensland PT 208 and the Victorian MMS describe, and keeps every record while your account is open. Your accredited manager and your auditor decide what satisfies the scheme.
Summarised from public sources on 13 October 2026. Not legal advice. Check the current rule with your regulator or adviser.
What gets checked
Exterior
- Wheels, tyres and wheel nuts
- Lights, reflectors and indicators
- Windscreen, mirrors and wipers
- Bodywork, panels and mirrors
- Fluid and air leaks
- Accreditation label and signage
Interior and safety
- Emergency exits open and alarms work
- Wheelchair lift or ramp cycles
- Seat belts where fitted
- Fire extinguisher and first aid dates
- School run signage and warning lights
- Driver’s seat, belt and mirrors
Readings
- Brake air pressure builds and warning clears
- Odometer
- Fuel level
- Driver authorisation number kept on the driver’s record
A typical pre-start: School bus pre-trip
All starter templatesStarter templates carry your items in your wording. Readings with limits are left blank for you to set from the manufacturer or your procedure: we never invent a limit.
The fuel angle
A coach fills at a depot bowser and on the road. Both go in the same way: litres, cost, odometer and a stamped photo of the pump or receipt, or a line from your fuel card import.
Consumption per bus and per driver by month shows the route that costs more than it should and the driver whose figures sit apart from the rest of the depot.
Alerts for a fill over the tank’s capacity, a fill with no distance since the last one, an after-hours fill or a card used on the wrong bus.
How fuel tracking worksWhat is kept
- Pre-trip per bus per operating day with person, date, bus and result
- Defects with type, when found, who found it, the action taken, when cleared and who cleared it
- Trip records with the driver’s name, and the authorisation number on the driver’s record
- Safety inspection and service schedules by distance or date, with the records of each
- Every record kept while your account is open, exported as PDF or spreadsheet for an auditor
Every record is kept while your account is open. Everything exports as PDF or spreadsheet, and the record is yours.
Starter templates
- City bus pre-trip (before every trip, bus)
- Coach pre-trip (before every trip, coach)
- School bus pre-trip (before every trip, bus)
- Minibus pre-trip (before every trip, minibus)
- Wheelchair accessible vehicle pre-start (before every trip, van)
- Double-decker bus pre-trip (before every trip, bus)
- Articulated bus pre-trip (before every trip, bus)
- Monthly vehicle inspection (supervisor) (monthly, any vehicle)
- Post-trip check (after every trip, any vehicle)
- Bus and coach pre-trip walkaround (before every trip, bus)
The rules, in plain words
- HVNL and Chain of Responsibility: The primary duty, executive due diligence and what changed on 1 August 2026.
- NHVAS and Heavy Vehicle Accreditation: The daily check minimum items, fault handling, servicing, the register and retention.
- Bus operator accreditation: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
Give your accredited manager the record before the next audit
Create your fleet, paste your registrations, print the tags and send a driver the link. Fourteen days free, no card and no hardware.