Peoria Charter Coach is celebrating 75 years in business. Congressman Darin LaHood, State Senator Chuck Weaver and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis were some of the community leaders on hand for the anniversary celebration. Mayor Ardis says Peoria Charter Coach can be found all over the country touring the sites and that’s a great thing. “We’re proud of it. It’s awesome to have the Winkler family, their hard work ethic and just their company's history, driving the roads around the country proudly proclaiming they are from Peoria.”
The business started with Walter Winkler selling his car and pulling together enough money to buy a bus during the gas rations in 1941. He transported Caterpillar workers from Lacon to Peoria. Today the company has 64 luxury buses.
Bill Winkler is Walter’s grandson and the current owner of Peoria Charter Coach. He says they serve more than half a million passenger a year and are also planning ahead. “When 2008 happened and the economy when down i realized we can’t just survive being a bus company. We have to do something more, and being a travel company is where we are headed and where we are going to go.”
Winkler says Peoria Charter Coach still offers more service between Central Illinois and Chicago than Greyhound and Amtrak combined and that’s not going to change. He says last weekend they transported about 3000 students from Chicago to Urbana back to school at the U of I.
Bill Winkler’s son Jake represents the 4th generation and is also participating in the executive operation of the business.