A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE
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As something of a deliberate curve-ball, we threw a coach operator into the mix: Mark Jordan, the engineering director responsible for Lucketts Travel’s 98 vehicles and three depots.
Jordan reveals: “The coach business has a bit of technology lag behind the haulage industry – we’re predominantly a Scania operator and we’ve only just seen Euro-5 arrive on our fleet in the last 12 months.” Lucketts used to have a policy of running a coach for 10 years, but now that is closer to 14 years.
“The difference for us [compared with hauliers] is that we can get three or four different cycles of work out of the vehicles,” he explains.
“They come in at the top and they do a lot of European tour work, and then we cascade them down into other operations: regional and London work, and then on to the school fleet.” His main concern for a long-life vehicle is not the engine, it’s interior refurbishment and bodywork repairs due to corrosion.