From fax machines to AI: two industry veterans on what coach operators should ask next

Ian Luckett spent 35 years running his family's coach business on the south coast. Håkon Sæther spent 15 years in telecoms before founding Ferdia, a software company for coach operators. Ahead of Euro Bus Expo, they sat down to talk about technology, change, and what operators should be asking their suppliers this year.

Two routes into the industry

Lucketts was started by Ian's grandfather, Harry Luckett, in 1926, which makes it 100 years old this year. It began as a haulage business before the family moved into coaches. When Ian and his brother Steve joined in the mid-1980s, there were 10 coaches. By the time they sold to National Express in 2020, the group had around 150 vehicles, 400 staff and five coach companies.

"We did every aspect of the job, from driving and fixing to HR and finance," says Ian. "As the business grew, we were pulled further away from the sharp end."

Håkon came from the other direction. "When I started in telecoms, people still talked on fixed lines. Fifteen years later, everyone had internet in their pocket." Ten years ago, a Norwegian coach operator asked him to help with its strategy. "We looked around Scandinavia for anyone doing something smart with technology for this industry, and we couldn't find anything. We looked at each other and said, this industry deserves something smarter." That smarter became Ferdia.

The fax machine never really left

For Ian, the industry's relationship with technology is best explained by the fax. "A fax was a letter sent digitally. We got rid of the postman, but we still took the information off the fax and typed it into something else."

That habit, he says, is still everywhere. "Systems locked you out. You put information in, but you couldn't send it somewhere else to be processed and bring it back. So we created a whole business around processes which fed the machine."

He gives a simple example. "If you know a driver's date of birth, you know whether they're old enough to drive that vehicle, and you know when their licence needs renewing. We used to have someone writing lists of whose licences to check next month. All of that can run in the background now."

Then there's the Sunday night invoicing. "You only send two invoices a month, so it's not worth the software. Then it's eight, then ten. You're so busy doing the task that you never step back and ask: why am I doing this?"

People fear losing what they have

Both agree the real barrier is rarely the technology. "People don't necessarily fear change," says Håkon. "They fear what they might lose because of it."

Ian recognises it from his own years running the business. "We could see things we should change. But staying with what we knew gave us a known result. Changing meant risk."

Håkon thinks the stakes are rising. "The telecom revolution changed how everyone communicates and works. AI will change much more, and it will do it faster. Many operators never fully used the tools that came out of the last revolution. Now there's a new one."

Customers will start with the end in mind

The way people buy coach travel is already changing, says Håkon. "Today people type 'coach hire' into Google. Soon they'll just ask: I need a coach from here to there. They'll expect a price straight away, a few options, and everything automated. Larger customers will want coaches in several cities through one easy order."

Ian puts it in operator terms. "People won't ask where they can hire a coach. They'll say: I've got 27 people arriving at Heathrow from Oslo on the 15th, and this is what we need to do. Solve it for me."

Connect everything to everything

So what should an operator look for? Håkon's answer is connection. "If I were an operator, my biggest question would be: how do I connect everything with everything? The things we have today, and the things that don't even exist yet." He argues the industry's own label holds it back. "In the UK we say coach management system. What operators need is a business management system."

And it's about where a system is heading as much as where it is today. "What matters is what it can do in a year's time. How fast does it develop, and can you use AI on top of it yourself?"

Ian brings it back to the people. "The customer and the driver are the two most important parts of a coach business. The customer gives us the money, and the driver delivers what we promised. Take the rubbish away so you can concentrate on what really matters: your customers and your people."

Listen to the operators

Ian's advice to software suppliers is simple. "Operators will tell you the system is rubbish. Sometimes that's fair. But very few suppliers sit down and understand what operators are actually trying to do. Go and listen. If one operator comes up with an idea that improves your system so five others want to buy it, where's the problem?"

What to look for at the NEC

Ian has been going to the show for decades. "Thirty years ago we went to see the shiny new coaches. Over time, the interesting stands became the ones from people you'd never heard of." Lucketts became one of the first customers of a vehicle maintenance software company after meeting them in a three-by-three booth at the show. "Those conversations are priceless."

Håkon has two questions he would ask on every stand. "Can I connect the tools I choose, including AI? And who's doing that live today?"

Ian Luckett works with Ferdia as an adviser. Ferdia exhibits at Euro Bus Expo, NEC Birmingham, 3-5 November, on stand 100.