You don't need to read this to find a coach. Each company's certifications are shown with its offer.
Compare nowCertificates: the company has been assessed against something
With a certificate, an outside party looks at the company. What exactly is checked differs per certificate: one is about quality, another about safety or the environment.
Keurmerk Touringcarbedrijf
7 coach companies on BusOffer
A Dutch quality mark for coach companies that no longer exists on its own: its requirements now apply as the quality standard for members of Busvervoer Nederland.
The requirements are about the company: safety, training and conduct. It is the only quality mark in this list that is solely about coach transport.
More information at knv.nl
ISO 9001
19 coach companies on BusOffer
The international standard for quality management: requirements for how a company safeguards and keeps improving the quality of its work.
Tells you something about how the company works, not about the coach or the driver.
More information at nen.nl
ISO 14001
6 coach companies on BusOffer
The international standard for environmental management: requirements for how a company improves its environmental performance step by step.
Of interest if your own organisation pays attention to sustainability.
More information at nen.nl
ISO 45001
The international standard for occupational health and safety.
About the people who work for the company, including the driver.
More information at nen.nl
ISO 39001
The international standard for road traffic safety in organisations that use the roads.
Of all the ISO standards in this list, this one comes closest to being about the road.
More information at nen.nl
VCA
1 coach company on BusOffer
Short for Veiligheid, gezondheid en milieu Checklist Aannemers (Safety, Health and Environment Checklist for Contractors), and is about working safely and healthily.
Intended for companies that work in a high-risk environment, such as construction or industry; the client decides whether it is needed.
More information at ssvv.nl
CO2 Performance Ladder
According to its publisher, “an instrument that encourages CO₂ reduction and rewards sustainable organisations: those who can show they emit less get a financial advantage in tenders”.
Seen mainly at companies that take part in public-sector tenders.
More information at co2-prestatieladder.nl
TX-Keur
3 coach companies on BusOffer
A quality mark from taxi and healthcare transport.
You come across it at companies that run taxis or healthcare transport as well as coaches; so it is not about the coach.
More information at tx-keur.nl
Recognised training company
A recognition from SBB that allows a company to train Dutch vocational (mbo) students on the job.
Tells you that the company trains people itself. It is not a quality mark for the trip.
More information at s-bb.nl
Memberships: the company belongs to something
With a membership, the company has joined an association or a fund. That is different from an assessment: you join, and you follow the rules that come with it.
Busvervoer Nederland
10 coach companies on BusOffer
The trade association of coach companies in the Netherlands; it is part of Koninklijk Nederlands Vervoer (KNV).
Members must meet the association's quality standard. Note: a company that only mentions the Busvervoer Nederland travel conditions is not a member because of that.
More information at knv.nl
KNV
12 coach companies on BusOffer
Koninklijk Nederlands Vervoer (Royal Dutch Transport), the employers' organisation for professional passenger transport in the Netherlands.
Membership of an employers' organisation, not a check on the trip.
More information at knv.nl
ANVR
2 coach companies on BusOffer
The Algemeen Nederlands Verbond van Reisondernemingen, the Dutch trade association of travel companies.
About travel companies. For a coach company, it tells you something about the holidays it offers, not about the driving itself.
More information at anvr.nl
SGR
3 coach companies on BusOffer
Stichting Garantiefonds Reisgelden: a Dutch guarantee fund in case an affiliated travel organisation goes bankrupt.
About travel money paid in advance. Exactly what is covered depends on what you book, and the company itself states this.
More information at rijksoverheid.nl
Calamiteitenfonds
1 coach company on BusOffer
Stichting Calamiteitenfonds Reizen: a Dutch fund for travellers, in case a trip is affected by a calamity.
As with SGR: what is covered depends on what you book.
More information at rijksoverheid.nl
BOVAG
1 coach company on BusOffer
A trade association for businesses in the mobility sector.
As members, BOVAG lists among others businesses in commercial vehicles and trucks, engine overhaul and accident repair. So it is not about the transport itself.
More information at bovag.nl
What a quality mark does say
Almost all the quality marks above are about the organisation and not about your trip. They say that a company has documented how it works, that it has committed itself to something, or that it is a member of an association. That is real information: a company that takes the trouble to be assessed usually has its paperwork in order.
But a badge is not a promise about the coach that turns up on Monday, about the driver in it or about the price you pay.
What it doesn't say
Three things to bear in mind.
We don't check the badges. For a company that has signed up with us, the company chooses its quality marks itself from a fixed list. For a company from public sources, we read them on its own website. In both cases they are there on the company's word, and the profile says so too.
A missing badge means little. For most coach companies in the Netherlands we have not been able to read a website, and a small family business that has been driving well for thirty years often has no quality mark at all. So no badge is not a black mark. Usually it simply means: we don't know.
A licence is something else. Anyone who operates a bus or coach for payment in the Netherlands needs a licence. That is a legal requirement and so not a quality mark. Which companies hold that licence is shown in the public register from which we take our list of coach companies.
What is more useful in practice
If you want to know whether a company suits your trip, these things say more than a badge: how quickly they respond to your request, whether they explain where their price comes from, whether they name the coach they will actually send, and what previous customers wrote about them. All of that is on the company's profile and next to every offer.
We drew the shields above ourselves; they are not the logos of the organisations. What we show per certification is a short explanation of what it is; for the rules and conditions, check with the organisation that issues it.
The number of coach companies is ours and comes from our own data. It counts the companies that listed the certification themselves and the companies whose own website we read it on. We have checked neither.