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Jim's Blog
Jim Smith
With a quarter-century of experience in the tire and automotive industries and more than 30 years as a journalist, Jim's communications experience includes stints as a newspaper reporter and editor, a public relations manager and a variety of creative and management roles with an advertising agency. The Kent State University journalism major served as editor and associate editor for a number of community newspapers in Northeast Ohio before joining Modern Tire Dealer in 1984, where he served as senior editor. After four years in brand and corporate public relations roles with Bridgestone/Firestone, Jim joined Nashville's Stumpf Bartels Advertising in 1992. He became Tire Review's ninth editor in October 1999.
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More Field Reports on Corroded TPMS Sensors

Monday, May, 13, 2013

The troublesome issue of TPMS sensor corrosion and sudden tire deflation continues to capture attention. Now consumers are reaching out to Tire Review with their horror stories of TPMS sensors gone bad. Some blame the “tire repair shop,”...
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Maybe They Can Just Say The Robot Did It

Wednesday, May, 01, 2013

I know this is a tire industry website and we should be focused on tire industry stuff, but this kind of stuff is hard to resist. Insurance.com just revealed its new "Ticketmasters" survey, recounting the most popular excuses A...
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Did Lack of Training or Lack of Concern Kill Tireman?

Friday, April, 12, 2013

Sad, sad story out of Canterbury, Kent, in the U.K., where a 21-year-old novice tireman was killed instantly when a "five-foot tall" tire ruptured while he was inflating it while performing a repair. ...
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Dillweeds, Gobbledygook and Adventures in Interpretative Reading

Wednesday, March, 27, 2013

Welcome back, friends. I know it's been a long time, and my only excuse is a strenuous combination of travel, time demands and other things. I will also say that I suspect production of this award-winning bit of observation will slow as we go fo...
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It Was 25 Years Ago Today, Sgt. Yeiri Taught the Band to Play...

Wednesday, February, 13, 2013

So what were you doing 25 years ago this month? For that matter, the entire 1986-1990 period? All those years ago I was covering the wild-west show that was tire industry consolidation. Marriages of desire, partnerships of convenience,...
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After Record-Setter, Price Hike Quiet 2012 Was Welcome Relief

Friday, January, 11, 2013

In 2011, you'll recall, we spent a LOT of time writing about tire price increase. 5% here and 10% there with 7% sprinkled in for good measure. All told, we talked about prices increase at least 100 times because we set some kind of a record in 2011 w...
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Wondering Where the Lions Are? All Over, According to Shops

Wednesday, December, 19, 2012

Babcox Media, parent of Tire Review, operates a research unit, which recently polled independent repair shops (not tire dealers necessarily) on a couple of basic questions.
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Voting in America: The Oddest Polling Place Edition (Tires Anyone?)

Thursday, November, 15, 2012

The ballots have long since been cast and the elections - national and local - have been decided. Despite all of the bile flinging, the world did not end on Nov. 7, our union persevered, and democracy prevailed. Here in Ohio, where our...
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Hearsay and Innuendo About Tire Companies and Cabs

Tuesday, November, 13, 2012

Curious that some folks took out their pens to offer that the reason they didn't cover the Apollo-buying-Cooper rumor that captured the entire tire industry's attention in October was because...it was a rumor.
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Reader Comments: TPMS Sensor Corrosion a Big Issue

Thursday, November, 08, 2012

Before we saddled up and headed west for the Big Round-up (aka the Global Tire Expo), we left you with word that some dealers and drivers are finding problems with valve stem-style TPMS sensors. We asked for your input and comments...and boy did we get some!
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Weigh In: Is OE TPMS Sensor Failure a Hidden Problem?

Friday, October, 26, 2012

It's discussion and sharing time, and this appears to be a pretty serious topic. A few weeks ago, Newport, N.Y., tire dealer Joe Fiacco called me about problems he has been seeing with OE TPMS valve sensors. Specifically, "sensor n...
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Talking 'Bout Their Generation, Yeah

Thursday, October, 25, 2012

I clearly recall as a youth hearing my parents and grandparents bemoaning my age group brethren. How they were nuthin' but a buncha dirty, long-haired, lazy, clowning, ignorant, un-American commie-pinko, hippie dippies. No, I didn't ma...
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Can You Really Sue a Fictional Character?

Tuesday, October, 09, 2012

If you spend any quality time watching TV or reading gamer publications, you know of Kevin Butler, the erstwhile vice president for Sony's PlayStation gaming system. He was the face and attitude for the popular system, now in its third iteration....
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Post-Tariff Pricing: Now What?

Thursday, September, 27, 2012

Good morning, and welcome back to a Tariff Free America! Well, at least as far as consumer tires imported from China are concerned. So now that import tariffs on passenger and light truck tires shipped from China are back to their pre-...
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All Morry, All the Time, and Other Interesting Titan News

Tuesday, August, 28, 2012

Things we all probably forgot...like the fact that USW Local 745 workers at Titan International's Freeport, Ill., tire plant are still technically without a "new" labor deal with the tire and wheel maker. The union workers, who...
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Tire Market is Down, and Looks to be Staying There

Friday, August, 10, 2012

Was having lunch the other day with a good friend and a colleague I respect. Over chopped steak and a good-looking sandwich, he asked how I saw "the market" going for the rest of the year. My response was somewhat measured, bec...
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Consumer Tire Knowledge Not Really That Hot

Wednesday, July, 25, 2012

Recently, some questions have been raised about the general effectiveness of National Tire Safety Week and the various tire care communications that have been directed at American drivers over the past 11 years. If you go strictly by t...
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Tire Tariffs and Other Ways to Kill Retail Tire Sales

Wednesday, July, 18, 2012

September is coming, as does the question: "What’s going to happen with the China tariff?" Specifically, people want to know what will become of the punitive added tariff that has impacted all U.S. consumer tire pricing ...
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On the Farm and in the Air

Wednesday, July, 11, 2012

Eight decades ago, farmers rode on all-steel tires. No, not steel-belted. All steel. Metal on dirt, with no rubber in between. 2012 is the 80th anniversary of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.'s introduction of the very first pneumatic r...
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