Vehicles used by ground operators rarely run just one at a time. A group splits into three vehicles heading to Mount Lao, the city and the West Coast at the same time, three vehicles and three drivers, and who reports to whom, when everyone returns and where to meet all depend on dispatch. Junaiyue handles Fleet Dispatch for ground operators, and the core idea is to schedule several vehicles as one task rather than scheduling each of the three on its own.
For bookings running several vehicles in parallel, the biggest risk is having no chief dispatcher. If each vehicle contacts its own guests and a guest asks about the meeting time, three drivers give three answers and the group scatters on the spot. The Junaiyue approach is to keep a single point of contact, so everyone asking about time, plate number or location goes to the dispatcher, and there is only one answer.
For multi-vehicle bookings, Junaiyue first sets a chief dispatcher and lists the vehicle type, Driver, route and boarding and drop-off points of each vehicle in a single table. The ground operator coordinator only deals with the chief dispatcher, does not have to call each driver, and can get the progress of the whole group with one phone call.
The chief dispatcher needs the full set of information. Plate numbers, driver phone numbers, guest lists and the parking position at each stop are all essential. Junaiyue sends this table to the vehicle group chat the night before departure, drivers and coordinators each keep a copy, and the next day everyone follows it. The table also leaves a column for last-minute changes, so whoever made the change and when it was made can be noted on the spot, giving a record for later review.
Vehicles are assigned by route, not by personal preference. Drivers who know Mount Lao run Mount Lao, and those who know the West Coast run the West Coast. In the Junaiyue fleet, knowing the roads is a firm rule for scheduling, because a driver who does not know the route can add half an hour of detours, and guests lose one stop that day. A driver who knows the roads knows when each intersection jams, and the time saved goes unnoticed by guests while the itinerary runs smoothly.
Each vehicle has one driver and its own small log: departure time, arrival time, number of guests and meeting time. Junaiyue requires drivers to report their position at every stop, so dispatch always knows where each car is without calling one by one.
The log is not just for showing guests. At trip end, Junaiyue uses it to reconcile with the ground operator, so which stop ran overtime and which leg detoured is clear at a glance without the two sides arguing from memory. Ground operators dread disputes, and with this log there are far fewer of them. The record is kept in a paper book the driver can jot in at any time, without tapping on a phone for ages, and even if the handwriting is messy after a long day, the numbers stay clear.
There is a right way for drivers to report position. Junaiyue asks drivers to send text, not voice messages, because with many people in the group chat voice messages flood the screen and the coordinator cannot find the key points in the record. One line of text with time, place and the state of the group is clear at a glance. Irrelevant messages are not allowed in the group, and whoever sends too many recalls them, keeping the record clean so it is easy to check later.
When several vehicles reach the scenic area entrance at the same time, boarding is where things get messy. Junaiyue assigns a boarding point by vehicle number, one spot per vehicle, so guests wait beside their own vehicle number instead of crowding at a single doorway. For groups of more than thirty, twenty minutes to load is normal, provided the boarding points are separated.
Meeting times are fixed in advance. Junaiyue agrees with the ground operator on the meeting time at each stop, departs on time without waiting, and the guide is responsible for gathering everyone. The guide holds a roll call sheet, so counting at the meeting time shows who is missing at a glance without making the whole vehicle wait.
Parking at the scenic area entrance has to be sorted out in advance. Junaiyue drivers park in the designated spot before the group arrives, since large and small vehicles often use different entrances, and a wrong turn means a long detour while guests stand waiting, which suits no one. A driver who has scouted once does not have to search again on the second visit, and knowing the way saves time. It is also easy for guests to find the car, since the vehicle number is displayed at the front, so they just follow the number instead of asking each driver.
For multi-vehicle bookings, we hold a short briefing before departure, gathering the drivers to go over routes, meeting points and group details. Who takes which group, which route to follow and where to meet is clearer face to face than typed in a chat. Junaiyue drivers are used to this kind of briefing, which wraps up in ten minutes before everyone sets off.
The briefing also checks plate numbers and vehicle condition. Drivers report on the spot whether there is enough fuel, whether the air conditioning works and whether the spare tire is there. Junaiyue requires a self-check before departure, and any problem means switching vehicles on the spot rather than heading out with a fault. With guests in the car, any small issue gets magnified, and repairing on the road delays the whole group.
Changing hotels midway is common for ground-operator groups. If guests originally near the railway station move to the seaside, every vehicle departure point changes the next morning. The Junaiyue approach is for the chief dispatcher to change them all together, notify each vehicle in the group chat, and get a reply confirming each one, so the change counts only once everyone has replied and no vehicle is missed.
A hotel change often comes with a change in headcount. Some guests share rooms, some leave the group early, and seats open up in the vehicles. Junaiyue reassigns vehicles by the new list and fills the open seats, and would rather leave a seat empty than have guests squeezed in the aisle, because only when they ride comfortably will they be happy to continue in the days that follow.
If one vehicle breaks down on the road, the whole group stops. Junaiyue keeps backup vehicles, at twenty percent in the shoulder season and sixty percent in peak season, with last-minute dispatch arriving within two hours to pick up guests first and repair the vehicle afterward. Backup vehicles are company-owned, so dispatch can move them on its own decision.
When a group adds people at the last minute, dispatch adds a vehicle on the spot. Junaiyue can move its own vehicles, adding one to a multi-vehicle booking without reporting up through layers or waiting for an outside company to reply. For this kind of booking we usually lock vehicles three days ahead, and a last-minute addition depends on the remaining capacity that day.
Peak and off-season dispatch are two different playbooks. In the shoulder season there are more vehicles than guests, so one vehicle can serve two small groups; in peak season vehicles are scarce and guests are many, so Junaiyue locks vehicles to groups in advance, one vehicle per group, and does not chase extra bookings, because once we take one we guarantee a vehicle. The fleet has only so many vehicles, so we take what we can handle and say so plainly when we cannot, since forcing it would affect the groups that day.
This article was compiled by the dispatch manager of Qingdao Junaiyue Travel Service Co., Ltd., who has worked in the industry for nine years and year-round handles vehicle arrangements for corporate inspection, large conferences and out-of-town travel agencies. The figures here come from dispatch records he has handled personally.
Qingdao Junaiyue Travel Service Co., Ltd. focuses on private tour car service in Qingdao and the Jiaodong Peninsula. All vehicles are company-owned and registered. Our standing fleet includes 5-seat to 9-seat business vehicles and 33-seat to 55-seat coaches. Drivers average more than 8 years of driving experience in Qingdao. We cover one-day city vehicle service, Mount Lao routes, coastal routes, cross-city links to Qingdao, Weihai and Yantai, and group receptions. Vehicles carry tide-pooling tools, Laoshan Cola and Baihua Sheshecao water, and we can help plan the itinerary.
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