Private Motor Coach, Inc

Private Motor Coach, Inc. is a Texas based VIP travel company providing private, escorted travel in a luxury motor coach/bus conversion for up to 10 people in the US, Canada, Central America and South America. The company was founded by Canadian-born entrepreneur Ed Lonsbary in 1999. He is the owner, operator, and CDL licensed driver-escort.

Products

Travel is customized for leisure, business and special needs in a luxury motor coach/bus conversion for up to 10 people. The market Private Motor Coach, Inc. serves consists of families and small groups whose members want the convenience of group transportation without driving themselves. Private Motor Coach, Inc. is a travel option for persons with manageable disabilities, who cannot travel via air or car.

There are no pre-established routes. Travel is for traditional sightseeing, ecotourism, adventure travel, volunteer tourism, sporting events, business trips, and medical transportation. The duration of trips can be for just one day or weeks long determined by the destination and subsequent travel plans. Travel extends through North, Central and South America.

History

Private Motor Coach, Inc. began operations on January 25, 1999 from its first location in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. Ed Lonsbary, President and Founder of Private Motor Coach, Inc., unveiled the new private travel company at the March 1999 Family Motor Coach Association Rally in Perry, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, he booked his first reservation. It was a day trip for group of “Parrot Head” fans to travel and see Jimmy Buffet perform at the Star Lake Amphitheater near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lonsbary completed 14 trips in the first year of operation.

In April and May 2000, Lonsbary traveled through Mexico and Central American scouting roads for trips south of the US border. Also that year, with a commitment to corporate citizenship, Private Motor Coach, Inc. joined a network of travel companies to help those in need of transportation. Through its association with Angel Bus Network, the Private Motor Coach motor home/bus conversion became “available for children and their families to travel to medical treatment.” ¹

In August 2001, the operation moved to Whitehouse, Texas. Private Motor Coach, Inc . remains a Texas-based company.

The same year that the company moved south to Texas, the United Motorcoach Association (UMA) awarded Private Motor Coach, Inc. the 2001 Vision Award. “The prestigious award acknowledges a strong commitment to safety, excellence in operation and service, marketing innovation, product development and social responsibility.”² Julie Anna Cirillo, Acting Assistant Administrator and Chief Safety Officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration presented the award at the UMA Motorcoach Expo 2001 in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 6, 2001.

Further recognition came in 2004. Metro Magazine recognized Private Motor Coach, Inc. as a demographics-based business in its list of the “Seven Most Innovative Motorcoach Operators” stating that “careful research of the industry and market trends gave Lonsbary the idea to pursue a demographics segment not often tapped: baby boomers.”³

The President and Founder of Private Motor Coach, Inc. is Canadian-born Ed Lonsbary. He earned his degree in Manufacturing Technology from Fanshaw College in 1972. Over the years, Ed’s career took him from Timberjack in Canada to 25 years in corporate positions with Jacuzzi, DuPont, Dow, and Bayer in engineering, sales and marketing. His extensive travel made him a “road warrior” and fed his global love of being on the road. The expected wave of traveling baby boomers, wanderlust and the acumen for big equipment led Lonsbary to create Private Motor Coach, Inc. and purchase the first coach, an MCI-9 bus conversion/motor home that he used to take people "“Anywhere-Anytime.”"

In 2007, Lonsbary replaced his original MCI coach called “Patty’s Charm” with an upgraded Prevost XL motorcoach/bus conversion called “Dolly’s Pride.” As with the original coach, the Prevost has all the amenities of a house-on-wheels: living room, kitchen, dinette, full bathroom, washer/dryer, queen-sized bedroom, and a large storage bay. In 2008, Private Motor Coach, Inc. formed an association with a sister company Global Tourism Solutions, Inc. [http://www.glotours.com] . GTS is a new business that compliments the long-range goals of Private Motor Coach, Inc. Global Tourism Solutions offers practical solutions for tourism development via analysis, research, and implementation of global marketing strategies by serving as a trusted advisor for government travel bureaus, travel agents, publishers, businesses and travelers. Global Tourism Solutions will also tap the contemporary niche market of the charitable tourism.

Private Motor Coach, Inc. is fully insured and licensed by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and fully regulated by the Pennsylvania, Public Utility Commission as a common carrier.

The company’s corporate goal is “to offer a lifelong memorable travel experience and to develop lasting friendship with each and every traveler.”⁴

References

¹ “Private Motor Coach Joins Angel Bus Network,” The Private Coach Enthusiast Vol. II, Issue 1 (June 2000)

²Charles Seaton, “Luxury Tours…with an escort,” Busride (January 2003) p. 32

³Beverly Braga, Kristine Force, Yvonne Klopping and Joey Campbell, “7 Most Innovative Motorcoach Operators,” Metro Magazine (January 2004) p. 27 – 38

⁴“Unique Company Celebrates Seventh Year of Traveling,” Tri-County Leader (March 2006)

External links

* [http://www.privatemotorcoach.com company website]