A Legacy of Ingenuity and Reliability...

Our lengthy history begins all the way back in the 1870s when W.H. Whitfield set up shop in Penn Yan and started building wagons and fancier horse drawn carriages. As technology advanced, Whitfield switched to building motorized buses. Coach & Equipment as we know it today was born in 1948 under the leadership of A. Carl Kreutziger, a former employee of Whitfield. Kreutiziger focused on building school buses for many years, eventually diversifying into the shuttle bus industry. In the early 1990’s, we transitioned to exclusively building the white shuttle buses we are known for today. However, many of the strict government standards that were required for the school bus industry have been retained by our team because we believe that safety is the most important feature in bus manufacturing.

Jim McMullen joined Coach and Equipment in 1977 and eventually became the owner of the company. Jim continues to serve today as CEO with his son Rick McMullen serving as President of Manufacturing and his son-in-law Scott Reston serving as President of Coach Bus Sales. Coach & Equipment is truly a family effort both literally and figuratively as testified by our dedicated leadership and employees. In fact, a number of our employees have been with us for over 30 years.

Therefore, when you buy a Coach & Equipment bus, you benefit from both the depth of our experience as well as cutting- edge modern technology. In some ways, we are a bit old fashioned in that when we build something, we build it to last. We do not cut corners and only use the highest quality materials. On the other hand, our team of engineers stays busy with the latest technology to optimize the safety features, durability, and functionality of our buses.

We like to think of our buses as the “sturdy workhorses” of the midsized bus industry. We are proud to be ADA compliant, ISO 9001-2015 certified, QVM certified, Altoona tested, and partners of the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agriculture Implement Workers of America (UAW) Local 1097. Be sure to check the additional information about our engineering and manufacturing process available on this website to see for yourself how we achieve outstanding quality and reliability.