Every January, many leadership teams step away from the operation to talk about their goals for the new year. They identify priorities, discuss what needs to change, and leave with renewed energy about what they hope to accomplish.

There is only one problem: they are already late.

By January, the budget has likely been approved. Resources have been allocated. Financial expectations have been established. If the planning session identifies a need for another employee, new technology, leadership development, additional safety resources, or new equipment, the organization begins the year trying to fund a priority that should have helped shape the budget in the first place.

Strategic planning should not follow the budget. It should help create it.

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, but it should also remind us how little time remains in the year. The next few months will move quickly. Soon, operators will be finalizing revenue projections, labor assumptions, capital plans, and oper…

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Earlier this summer, Busline magazine asked me to write about artificial intelligence and how it is beginning to influence the bus and motorcoach industry.

It was a timely assignment. Artificial intelligence has become one of those terms that seems to be everywhere. Technology companies are talking about it. Operators are experimenting with it. Conference agendas are filled with it. Scroll through LinkedIn for a few minutes, and you probably won’t have to wait long before someone tells you how AI is going to transform business.

But the more I thought about the assignment, the more I realized I didn’t want to write another article about the promise of AI.

I wanted to understand what it actually means for our industry.

So I started having conversations.

I spoke with technology leaders developing tools for transportation companies and operators running businesses of different sizes and complexity. Some were already deeply engaged with AI. Others were still trying to understand where it might fit. Their perspectives weren’t identical, nor should they have been.

What interested me was where those perspectives began to intersect.

The resulting Busline article had to fit within roughly 1,000 words. But the conversations left me with far more material—and more questions—than I could possibly explore there.

This is the conversation that didn’t fit into 1,000 words.

We’ve Been Here Before—But This Feels Different

Over the course of my career, I’ve watched technology evolve from rotary phones to smartphones. I remember when caller ID, call waiting, and dial-up internet were revolutionary. I remember life before personal computers, email, GPS navigation, and the internet itself.

Each innovation reshaped the way we worked.

The transportation industry evolved in its own way. Dispatch and reservation systems became increasingly sophisticated. GPS and telematics gave operators visibility into their fleets that would once have been unimaginable. Mobile technology changed how we communicate with drivers and customers. Technology transformed nearly every operational function.

Some operators embraced those changes quickly. Others took a more measured approach, waiting until the technology proved itself. Eventually, each innovation simply became part of operating a modern transportation business.

AI feels like the next chapter, but with an important difference.

It isn’t simply changing the tools we use.

It’s beginning to change what those tools can do for us.

And the pace of that change appears to be accelerating.

First, We Have to Get Beyond the Hype

One challenge with talking about artificial intelligence is that the term itself has become so broad that it can mean almost anything.

AI can describe the camera system identifying unsafe driving behavior. It can describe software analyzing years of reservation data. It can describe a chatbot answering customer questions. It can describe ChatGPT drafting an email. And increasingly, it can describe agents capable of taking actions across multiple business systems.

Put all of that under one label, and it’s easy to understand why people are simultaneously excited, skeptical, curious, and confused.

Louis Bookoff, co-founder of Busie, offered an interesting perspective when I asked where he sees AI creating the most value. He actually started by talking about where it doesn’t.

Writing emails and generating marketing content have become what he described as almost “table stakes.” He also pointed to the growing amount of obvious AI-generated content—what he called “AI slop”—and the resulting fatigue it can create. His larger point was that people still crave authentic human interaction.

That struck me because so much of the public conversation about AI begins with generative tools. Ask someone how they’re using AI and the answer is often some version of writing emails, creating social media content, summarizing documents, or conducting research.

Those are useful applications. I use many of them myself.

But they’re only the beginning.

Louis described work around pricing, dispatch, fleet allocation, accounting, and even identifying events that could create new sales opportunities for operators. In the latter case, AI can identify relevant events, find potential contacts, and help manage a process that would be extremely time-consuming to perform manually.

His distinction was important: the closer AI gets to critical workflows, the higher the stakes become. General AI has value, but use-case-specific applications make the potential easier to understand—and demand greater thoughtfulness.

That may be one of the first lessons for operators trying to make sense of all of this.

Don’t start with AI.

Start with the work.

The Opportunity Is Already Inside the Business

My conversation with Niall McKeever of Zaui added another dimension.

Niall spent many years as an operator in his native Northern Ireland before moving to the technology side of the industry. That background gives him an interesting perspective because he understands both what the technology can do and the realities of running a transportation business day after day.

Much of our discussion centered on something transportation companies already possess in abundance: data.

Think about how much information an established operator accumulates.

Trips. Customers. Routes. Pricing. Seasonal demand. Maintenance. Driver activity. Sales history. Cancellations. Utilization.

For years, much of that information has existed primarily as a historical record. AI makes it possible to use it much more dynamically.

Niall described systems capable of examining years of past performance around a holiday, for example, and using that history to forecast schedules and routes. He also discussed the potential for that same intelligence to inform dynamic pricing.

That’s a fundamentally different value proposition from asking an AI tool to write an email.

The information already exists.

The opportunity is to understand it better.

And that idea surfaced elsewhere.

Bill Adams of First Class Charter talked about wanting greater integration between dispatch, maintenance, drivers, and finance. His vision was a system that could monitor maintenance intervals and help the organization become proactive before a mechanical issue turns into what he called a “chaos situation.” Importantly, he immediately connected that operational visibility back to protecting margin and profitability.

Bill also saw opportunity on the other side of the business: customers.

First Class has hundreds of customers in its database. As Bill pointed out, no one can manually stay in meaningful contact with all of them or continuously monitor who traveled six months ago, much less two years ago. He sees AI helping identify customer patterns, determine how individual customers prefer to be contacted, and maintain relationships at a scale that would be difficult to accomplish manually.

He also connected customer history to pricing—using patterns in demand and travel behavior to become more confident about peak and off-season rates rather than defaulting to discounting to win business.

That’s not replacing sales.

It’s giving salespeople better information about where to focus their attention.

AI and Automation Aren’t the Same Thing

Another important distinction came from Ben O’Day of Initek Consulting.

For years, companies like Initek have helped organizations connect systems, move and normalize data, and automate processes. None of that began with generative AI.

What’s changing is how quickly and flexibly that work can now be done.

Ben described how building an adapter to connect a new telematics platform might previously have required multiple days of software development. With AI-assisted development tools, that work can happen much faster. But he raised an even more interesting question: in some situations, does a traditional software integration need to be built at all, or can an AI agent perform the work another way?

That distinction matters because AI didn’t invent automation.

What it is doing is lowering barriers that once made sophisticated automation difficult, expensive, or inaccessible—particularly for smaller organizations.

Ben also sees an interesting divide in how operators are approaching the technology. Larger organizations may have internal resources that allow them to experiment and develop applications themselves. Smaller operators, meanwhile, may know they need to understand AI but not know where to begin, increasingly looking to their technology partners for guidance.

That may be one of the most important challenges surrounding AI right now.

The technology is advancing faster than many organizations can reasonably absorb it.

Get on the AI Bus—or Get Run Over by It?

Niall described a pressure to learn AI that I suspect many people are feeling.

The message can sometimes sound like: AI is here. Get on board.

For those of us in transportation, there’s probably an even more appropriate metaphor.

At times, it can feel like get on the AI bus or get run over by it.

I don’t think those are the only options.

Niall compared some of the anxiety surrounding AI with earlier technology transitions. There was a time when businesses were being told they needed a website. Later came mobile technology and other digital tools that created new expectations for how companies operated and interacted with customers. Each transition created its own uncertainty and its own pressure to keep up.

AI may be moving faster, but the leadership challenge is familiar.

Operators don’t have to automate their entire back office tomorrow.

They also can’t afford to simply ignore what is happening.

Somewhere between chasing every new AI application and dismissing the technology altogether is a much more practical path: understand what is becoming possible, identify the problems in your own organization worth solving, and begin experimenting where the potential value is clear.

Operators are already showing just how far that experimentation can go.

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If you’ve spent any time in the motorcoach business, you’ve heard some version of this statement:

“Brokers are ruining the business.”

Usually followed by frustration about thinner margins, price shopping, shrinking leverage, and operators carrying most of the operational risk while someone else controls the booking.

Most operators already know this dynamic.

None of it is new.

What got me thinking differently was an article I recently read about Spotify.

At first glance, music streaming and motorcoach transportation seem unrelated.

But the more I thought about it, the more familiar the pattern felt.

Because the real issue may not simply be:

Who owns the customer relationship?

It may be:

Who controls access to customers?

And in fragmented industries, that question matters.

Because the party controlling access often has the leverage.

The Pattern

Years ago, the music industry controlled distribution.

If you wanted music, you had to go through the industry.

Then streaming arrived.

At first, it looked like a win.

Easier access.

More reach.

Instant availability.

The industry embraced it.

Over time, however, platforms like Spotify increasingly positioned themselves between artists and listeners.

Today, they influence discovery, listener access, and much of the customer relationship.

Artists still create the product.

But many no longer control access to the audience.

That’s why more artists are now investing in direct fan communities, subscriptions, email lists, and other owned channels.

In short:

They’re trying to regain influence over customer access.

That’s what felt familiar.

Because transportation isn’t that different.

How Transportation Got Here

To be fair:

Much of transportation was commoditized long before brokers began to scale nationally.

In many local markets, customers had already learned to compare:

• price

• availability

• equipment

• timing

Buying decisions often became:

Who can do it?

Who has availability?

Who can do it cheapest?

That reality existed long before today’s national booking platforms.

And once anything becomes easier to compare and contrast...

Someone eventually builds a business around simplifying access to it.

Brokers didn’t create this dynamic.

They stepped into it.

More importantly, they solved a problem.

There is no true national motorcoach brand, and while there are some larger multi-market operators, the industry remains highly fragmented.

So when an organization needs transportation in Orlando, Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix, they face a choice:

Build and manage relationships market by market...

Or work through an intermediary.

That intermediary became the broker.

One point of contact.

One invoice.

One relationship.

And this is where I think many discussions miss an important point:

Brokers didn’t just compress pricing. They expanded access.

That’s why they succeeded.

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Much of the conversation around Spirit Airlines’ collapse has focused on fuel prices, the economy, and the failed merger with JetBlue Airways.

And to be fair, all of those things mattered.

Spirit itself pointed to rising jet fuel prices and instability in the Middle East as part of the pressure the airline was facing.

But after reviewing the company’s filings and restructuring history, it's clear those issues were the final blows to a business already under significant pressure for years.

The problems had been building for years.

Much of this becomes clear when reviewing Spirit’s 2025 SEC 10-K filing and January 2026 operating results disclosed in its 8-K filing.

The filings paint a much more complicated picture than simply “fuel prices” or a weak economy.

They show a business that had been dealing with shrinking revenue, grounded aircraft, lease pressure, operational disruption, and tightening financial flexibility long before the latest fuel spike arrived.

Spirit’s collapse was really the result of several pressures hitting the business at the same time:

• shrinking revenue

• high fixed costs

• grounded aircraft

• lease obligations

• labor pressure

• operational disruption

• debt

• and failed strategic options

In many ways, Spirit became a case study in what happens when a company’s business model, cost structure, and operating realities stop lining up.

And there are lessons in that for ground transportation operators too.

The Problems Started Long Before Fuel Spiked

The easy explanation is to say fuel prices killed Spirit.

But the numbers tell a much bigger story.

Revenue dropped from about $4.9 billion in 2024 to about $3.8 billion in 2025 — a decline of nearly 23%.

That’s not just fuel.

That’s a business under real pressure.

Even worse, Spirit was spending about $1.20 for every $1.00 it brought in before interest expense and restructuring costs.

That’s almost impossible to sustain for long.

And while the company cut costs, many major expenses didn’t fall fast enough to keep up with the shrinking business.

Transportation operators understand this very well.

When revenue drops, the bills don’t suddenly disappear.

The payments are still there.

Insurance is still there.

Facilities are still there.

Leases are still there.

Payroll is still there.

That’s where businesses start getting squeezed.

The Fleet Problems Ran Deeper Than Overcapacity

At first glance, Spirit’s fleet problems looked like a simple overcapacity issue.

But the filings point to something more complicated.

Spirit had invested heavily in newer Airbus Neo aircraft that were supposed to improve fuel efficiency and support the airline’s long-term strategy.

Then Pratt & Whitney engine issues began grounding aircraft for extended periods.

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Author’s note: This article builds on themes explored in my Spring and Fall 2025 writing.

Going into 2026, it feels like there’s a lot of uncertainty.

Some point to new tax laws, international investment, and strong market performance as signs that the U.S. economy could accelerate. Others point to continued cost pressure, employment uncertainty, and lingering risk. Reasonable people can argue both sides.

What’s familiar isn’t the debate.
It’s the feeling.

Because we’ve been here before.

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Behind every passenger, there’s a reason that matters.
We move people toward the moments that matter to them.

When someone boards one of your vehicles, they’re not just going somewhere. They’re heading toward something meaningful. As ground transportation operators, we don’t just move people—we support life’s experiences.

The question is: do we recognize that?

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To explore the conversation from another perspective, I spoke with Harald Kruse about how intermediaries like BusBank view their role — and how operators might approach these partnerships more strategically.

This discussion was also featured in the October/November issue of BUSRide Magazine as a text article, continuing a meaningful dialogue within the industry.

In our conversation, Harald shared his perspective on:

• Why he believes BusBank should be viewed as a distribution channel, not a competitor, helping complement operators’ local business with national reach.

• The importance of clear communication and process discipline to ensure operators are paid quickly and fairly.

• Why, as he put it, “the customer doesn’t speak bus” — and…

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Drivers and vehicles — those are the two essential ingredients in our business. We take drivers and vehicles, and together, we move people.

Much of my focus in Ground Transportation Insights has been on the people side of the business. That’s intentional — people are the more complex part of the equation. But equipment — whether motorcoaches, transits, minibuses, school buses, cutaways, sprinter vans, or SUVs — plays an equally important role in how effectively we deliver service.

Over the years, I’ve managed fleets of just about everything: MCIs, Prevosts, Van Hools, Setras (the predecessor to Mercedes-Benz coaches), Gilligs, and New Flyers on the transit side. I’ve run fleets filled with nearly every upfitter on the mini/cutaway platform, as well as sprinters, transits, and Chevy Suburbans. I even had a few Blue Bird school buses for a shuttle route at one point.

Most of these fleets were inherited, which meant learning each brand’…

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In a recent strategic planning webinar I facilitated with Busie, I shared an example from my time as VP & GM of American Coach Lines of Orlando — Coach America’s Central Florida operation. During that time, we experienced a dramatic shift — not just in top-line revenue, but in the way our entire organization aligned around a shared mission.

We grew annual revenues from $15 million to $22 million — a 47% increase — but the fundamental transformation wasn’t just financial. It was cultural. It was strategic. And it was sustained.

When I first stepped into the role, we were stabilizing the operation and getting our arms around the business. But in my second year, despite those early efforts, we posted a $600,000 net loss. It was a wake-up call — and the catalyst for real change. The following year, we turned that loss into a $1.4 million net profit — a $2 million swing and a 233% improvement in profitability.

Same team. Sam…

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Almost two weeks ago, I co-facilitated a webinar with Louis Bookoff, Co-Founder & CEO of Busie, on one of my favorite topics: strategic planning. The session, presented by Busie in August 2025, provided operators and business leaders with a framework for moving beyond day-to-day firefighting and into leading with clarity, focus, and a long-term vision.

Here are a few of the core ideas we explored, and why they matter for leaders in ground transportation and beyond.

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Introduction

Earlier this summer, during a conversation with a respected voice in our industry, I learned something telling: while demand for ground transportation — especially in the bus sector — has largely returned to pre-COVID levels, capacity remains limited due to the consolidation that took place during the pandemic.

That puts many operators in a phase of strong performance, healthy margins, and steady growth. It’s a great place to be… and also the riskiest place to get complacent.

As former UMA President & CEO Vic Parra cautioned in a recent conversation, “demand is still outpacing supply (thanks to COVID!). But you and I know that at some point — in probably the not-too-distant future — that will change, and the equation will shift back to the pre-COVID days. Sales will slow, pricing will move back to the lowest-cost provider, and margins will drop.”

No one can say exactly when that change will come. This year alone, trade policy shifts under President Trump injected uncertainty into an already skittish market, creating a rough spring for stocks before they recovered. Yet trade deals remain unsettled, interest rates are stubbornly high, the job market is cooling, and many small businesses — the category to which most of us belong — are holding off on new investments.

History also reminds us that market turbulence often arrives quickly. Some of the darkest economic days in U.S. history — Black Tuesday in 1929, Black Monday in 1987, the dotcom low in 2002, and the start of the 2008 financial crisis — all came in the fall. But not every downturn waits for autumn. COVID disrupted the market in the spring of 2020 with little warning.

Economic cycles have always followed this truth, famously summarized by economist Herbert Stein:

“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”

Or, as Sam Walton reminded us:

“You can't just keep doing what works one time, because everything around you is always changing. To succeed, you have to stay out in front of that change.”

Strong demand and healthy margins may feel lasting, but history tells us they’re temporary by nature. That’s why the operators who take action now will be best positioned when the inevitable shift occurs.

Think of our industry in seasons: COVID was a harsh winter. Recovery brought the warmth of spring. Today, many are enjoying the abundance of summer. But just as the calendar turns, so does the business cycle. Autumn — and eventually winter — will return.

The smartest operators will use this “summer” to prepare now, so when the season changes, they’re ready.

Ten Steps to Future-Proof Your Bus Business Before the Cycle Turns

Good times create the illusion that the cycle has been broken — but history tells us otherwise. The question isn’t if conditions will change, but when. That’s why it’s critical to use today’s strength as a launch pad, not a resting place. The following ten steps are practical ways to prepare your business now, so you’re not caught off guard when the market inevitably shifts.

As Jim Collins wrote in Built to Last:

“The signature of a truly great company is not the absence of difficulty, but the ability to come back from difficult times even stronger than before.”

That mindset is exactly what this list is about — using today’s strong market as the launch pad for long-term resilience.

1. Strengthen and Stick to Your Budget — Even When the Numbers Look Great
When cash flow is strong, it’s tempting to let budgets slide. Resist the urge. A budget isn’t just for when times are tight — it’s your year-round financial game plan. Maintain approval thresholds for major expenditures to prevent recurring costs that may be difficult to reverse in the future. Treat every expense like you’ll have to justify it during leaner months.

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In 2023, I completed my master’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. One of the most meaningful courses in the program was Strategic Management. While I’ve led strategic planning efforts for over two decades, it was energizing to revisit these concepts in an academic setting—supported by research, case studies, and peer dialogue.

The experience sparked new ideas, deepened old ones, and reminded me that the best strategies don’t live in isolation—they’re co-created, refined, and executed by aligned teams.

I enjoyed the course so much that I purchased the textbook and still reference it regularly. During a recent project, I revisited a pa…

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Last night, I played pickleball for the first time—and let’s say I found myself in a bit of a pickle.

About ten minutes into the game, I felt what I thought was a ball hit the back of my left calf. The sharp pain got my attention. I scanned the court, spotted a ball by the fence, and asked my partner if one had come flying over from another match.

“Nope,” she said.

That’s when I realized the truth: no stray ball had hit me. The pain I felt was coming from me, specifically, from a calf muscle that I hadn’t bothered to stretch. I had done what too many of us do: I jumped right in without warming up, like any self-respecting 53-year-old who still thinks he’s 25. And now, nearly 24 hours later, I’m hobbling around, wishing I’d taken a few minutes to prepare.

It made me think about something I’ve seen repeatedly in the business world, especially in the ground transportation industry. Whether it’s launching a new service, entering a new market, or scaling an operation, we often fail to “stretch…

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As I write this article in early April, the Dow has experienced another turbulent Monday following last week's losses. This downturn has led to a decline of nearly 10% since the beginning of 2025, with other indices reflecting similar trends. Several factors may contribute to this recent sell-off. Still, a key catalyst is the change in trade policies and their potential impact on the costs of goods and services, including expenses related to equipment, parts, and other essential items in the transportation industry.

Analysts expect this policy shift to impact the U.S. economy for at least the immediate future, and while we understand its reasons, the length of this downturn remains uncertain. Therefore, adopting a defensive financial posture during this time can be a wise approach to navigating the upcoming months. With this in mind, here are some steps I have taken during previous periods of uncertainty to prepare for unpredictable times ahead:

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The outlook for our economy varies greatly depending on who you listen to. Some believe we are on the brink of significant growth, while others fear we may face a correction or something worse. Although I'm not an economist, analyzing the markets without feeling that a change is imminent is hard. Over the past five years, the Dow has increased by more than 50%, the S&P has risen by nearly 80%, the Nasdaq has grown by over 100%, and Bitcoin—called by some the canary in the coal mine—has surged by almost 900%.

I'm not suggesting a negative outcome, but this situation reminds me of the volatility we experienced from 2008 to 2009. I vividly recall the day Lehman Brothers collapsed. I was in a corporate leadership meeting with representatives from the private equity firm that owned our company. They appeared distracted and worried throughout the day as they constantly checked their phones. It was a challenging time, and when we emerged from that meeting, we all understood that we needed to …

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Wow. That Was Decisive.

Last night, the underdog Philadelphia Eagles didn’t just beat the Kansas City Chiefs—they dismantled them on the biggest stage, in front of a global audience. It was the most lopsided championship win in years. While the final 18-point margin tells one story, anyone watching knows it was never really close. The Chiefs’ late-game points were cosmetic, not consequential.

The Eagles didn’t stumble into greatness. They engineered it—with discipline, foresight, and precision.

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