Peter Pan celebrates 80 years of rolling together with Firestone tires

Peter Pan celebrates 80 years of rolling together with Firestone tires _{(August 11,2019)}

SPRINGFIELD, MA – In 1939, just six years after Peter C. Picknelly started the legendary Peter Pan Bus Lines in 1933, he reached an agreement with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company to lease Firestone tires for a period of one year. That was the beginning of a partnership that kept the two companies rolling together for the next 80 years.

On August 11, 2019, Peter Pan Bus Lines and Bridgestone America’s, Inc. (Firestone’s parent company) will celebrate the 80^th Anniversary of the partnership. It is not the first time this important date was remembered. On August 11, 1999, the tire company presented the Picknelly family with the original tire lease contract to mark their 60th anniversary.

“When my grandfather Peter C. Picknelly sealed this important partnership with Harvey Firestone in 1939, they could only imagine how many miles these two companies would travel together,” said Peter A. Picknelly, Chairman & CEO of Peter Pan. “We were the first bus company in the United States to enter into a lease agreement with Firestone and we’re the longest bus company partnership Firestone has ever had. Now 80 years later, we are still proud to share the road with a longtime leader in the tire industry. Together over the 80 years, Peter Pan and Firestone have carried passengers over 600 million miles on Firestone tires. That’s 2,514 trips to the Moon and 24,094 times around the Earth. Safety is Peter Pan’s number one priority and Firestone Tires have delivered that promise with precision and consistency.”

In the original, initial contract signed by Peter C. Picknelly and Harvey Firestone, Firestone agreed to supply enough tires to equip 10-passenger Chevrolet buses and five 19-passenger Beck buses on a cost-per-mile basis. As the buses became larger and heavier, Firestone tires evolved to meet Peter Pan’s needs.

Today, Peter Pan Bus Lines carries more than 4 million passengers throughout the northeastern United States with hubs in Springfield, MA; Cape Cod, MA; Boston, MA; Hartford, CT; Providence, RI; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore, MD; Washington DC, and beyond.

The Firestone Company was founded initially in 1900 to supply solid rubber side- wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons and buggies of the era. Harvey Firestone had a personal friendship with Henry Ford and eventually became the original equipment supplier for the Fort Motor Company. Today the business is located in Nashville, TN and focused on retail, wholesale and original equipment markets.