The problem
A school, club or wedding party asks three operators for a price, and the first sensible quote usually wins. Pricing by hand means looking up the mileage, working out driver time and dead mileage, then typing an email. If an operator gets 25 requests a week at 15 minutes each, that's 375 minutes a week, about 27 hours a month (375 x 4.3), and replies go out a day late.
What the AI does
Coach Manager is booking software for UK coach and minibus operators. Its product page describes a price calculator paired with a quotation system for rapid input, storage and retrieval of quotes, and a Google Maps link that returns routes, travel times and distances. Its Online Client Portal lets clients request and accept quotations and pay by card. You set your pricing rules once; each quote then starts from the calculated mileage and time, and you adjust for the job before sending.
A worked example
A 7-coach operator in Shropshire doing school trips, sports clubs and private hire, plus 3 school contracts. The owner and one office assistant price quotes from a spreadsheet and Google Maps.
Before
25 quotes a week at about 15 minutes each: about 27 hours a month
After
About 6 minutes a quote to check the calculation and send: 150 minutes a week, about 10.75 hours a month
What it's worth
About $430£323€384A$620C$607 a month saved in quoting time, against $130£98€117A$188C$184 to $152£114€136A$219C$214 for Coach Manager. That's about 16.1 hours (26.9 minus 10.75) at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour; quotes won by replying faster aren't counted. Express is $129.68£97.50€116.03A$187.20C$183.30 a month excluding VAT for up to 1,000 private hire movements a year; hosting the client portal with the vendor adds $21.61£16.25€19.34A$31.20C$30.55 a month, or you can host it yourself.
How to set it up
- Write down how you price now: rate per mile, rate per hour, minimum charge, dead mileage, overnight and second-driver rules.
- Ask Distinctive Systems for a demo and set up your pricing rules in the calculator.
- Price 20 of last month's quotes in Coach Manager and compare with what you actually quoted.
- Turn on the client portal so organizers can request and accept quotes, and link it from your website.
- Check every calculated quote for the things a map can't see, such as low bridges, coach parking and waiting time, before sending.
What goes wrong
- The calculator prices what you tell it. If your rules leave out dead mileage or driver breaks, every quote will be too cheap.
- A quote must allow for drivers' hours rules on long days. The transport manager checks any day trip that could need a second driver.
- Pricing is by private hire movements a year; a busy operator may need a higher capacity level, from $151.29£113.75€135.36A$218.40C$213.85 a month on Express.
- The product page mentions an initial minimum term of 12 months. Ask exactly what you're committing to before you sign.