First: whose side is the software on?
Charter transport tools tend to fall into different categories, and comparing them as if they were the same thing leads to wrong choices:
| Category | Built for | What it solves |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier's system | whoever operates the buses | rosters, fleet, maintenance and running its own service |
| Shuttle service with an app | whoever wants to buy the transport | the transport itself, with an app for passengers |
| Tracker or telematics | whoever needs the vehicle's position | location and equipment data |
| Routing tool | whoever plans routes | route paths and stops from addresses |
| Contracting-side control platform | the company that contracts the carrier | planning, tracking, measuring and checking the contracted service |
If the company already has a carrier and wants to know whether it gets what it pays for, the right category is the last one. Merus Tracker is in it: it is software for whoever contracts, and it does not provide vehicles, drivers or the transport service.
The 10 criteria
1. Demand-based routing
Question for the supplier: Do routes start from people's addresses, shifts and sites?
How Merus answers: Yes: it calculates stops, route paths and times and rebuilds routes when demand changes. Routing guide
2. Fleet sizing
Question for the supplier: Can vehicles be compared by capacity and cost before changing the operation?
How Merus answers: Yes: it compares capacity, fixed cost, cost per kilometre and labour.
3. Independent measurement
Question for the supplier: Does the measurement depend only on the carrier's report?
How Merus answers: No: it uses positions, geofences, times and boardings linked to the trip. Independent measurement
4. Planned × actual
Question for the supplier: Is the comparison made trip by trip?
How Merus answers: Yes: route, times, kilometres and boardings of each trip. Planned × actual
5. Invoice checking
Question for the supplier: Is what is billed shown next to what was planned and measured?
How Merus answers: Yes, with the contract rules; approval remains with the company. Invoice reconciliation
6. Boarding control
Question for the supplier: Does it record who boarded, at which stop and on which trip, with care for data protection law (LGPD)?
How Merus answers: Yes, using the identification method set out in the project. Identified boarding
7. Information for employees
Question for the supplier: Can passengers see the line, timetable and expected arrival?
How Merus answers: Yes, in enabled flows, on a phone or in a browser. Web lookup and ETA
8. HR support
Question for the supplier: Does HR know, before hiring, whether transport serves the candidate?
How Merus answers: Yes, from the distance between the home and the existing routes. Candidate validation
9. Several carriers
Question for the supplier: Are different suppliers compared using the same criteria?
How Merus answers: Yes: each trip is linked to its carrier, contract and rules.
10. History and implementation
Question for the supplier: Is the history kept? Who loads the data, and how long does the supplier stay?
How Merus answers: Records by passenger, trip, vehicle and contract; the Merus team loads the data with the company and stays until the system is 100% working.
Warning signs when choosing
- A promise of guaranteed savings. The result depends on the contract, the operation and the company's decisions.
- Automatic deductions. The tool should show the difference with its origin and history; approving, deducting or paying is the contracting company's decision.
- Tracking sold as auditing. Knowing where the bus is does not tell you whether the trip met the contract.
- Data only the carrier can see. If the company has no access to the records of each trip, it cannot check the service.
How to compare in practice
Ask each supplier to show, with a sample trip, the full path: the planned route, what was measured, the recorded boarding and the amount billed, side by side. A demo that does not reach the invoice does not answer the question of whoever pays for the service.
To see that path in Merus Tracker with your operation's data, see the page for companies or talk to the team.
