Over the years, the OTR tire segment has proven to be among the strongest supporters of TIA and the most interested in educational opportunities. That certainly was again the case with the 2011 TIA OTR Conference, where a near-record crowd gathered at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

According to TIA, 443 people – tire dealers and retreaders and their spouses, as well as suppliers – attended the two-and-a-half-day event. It was, according to TIA, the second largest OTR conference attendance in the event’s 56-year history.

“It’s abundantly clear that each year just keeps getting better and better,” said TIA Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield after the conference. “With 443 attendees from 16 countries and 36 states in attendance, in addition to sessions led by the top experts in the OTR tire sector, it’s quite apparent that the TIA OTR Conference is the ‘go to’ OTR tire event in the world.”

The 56th annual conference was brought to order by TIA president Mike Berra, president of Community Tire Retreading. Also welcoming attendees was Robert Foord, president of Kal Tire, who was event chairman, and also serves as TIA’s OTR Group chairman.

Tom Klinge, president of Klinge Tyre Management Systems in Australia, provided tire service safety tips throughout the conference, and his enlightening and entertaining comments delivered the message while leading the audience to investigate their own safety-related issues.

The first day was dominated by the Tire Manufacturers Panel Discussion, which gave attendees the opportunity to pose questions to representatives of major new tire suppliers, including Shawn Rasey, president of Bridgestone Americas’ OTR unit; Roger Lucas, sales and marketing vice president for Michelin North America’s earthmover tire group; James Wang, director of sales and marketing for Techking Tires; Paul Hawkins, vice president of OTR tires for Titan; and Nelson Richards, national OTR sales manager for Yokohama Tire Corp.

The panel fielded a series of questions, both prepared and from the audience, on the impact of fast-rising natural rubber and oil prices on future tire pricing, manufacturer efforts to increase tire life, and what new technologies could be introduced near-term.

Prior to that panel discussion, Bruce Besancon, marketing director for Michelin North America’s OTR unit, provided the conference’s annual rundown on OTR tire shipments and the state of the industry from a production standpoint.

By Besancon’s (and Michelin’s) definition, construction and quarry tires are typically size 14.00-24 to 27.00-49. Mining tires are anything 49 inches and larger. He outlined the well-known reasons for the OTR tire market’s poor last few years, but heartened the audience by clearly illustrating what most also knew – that 2010 was a much better year.

For 2010, the entire OTR market – OE and replacement, bias and radial – totaled 3.06 million units, up 35.8% vs. 2009. From January 2008 through December 2010, the entire market was off 27.4%, he said.

The replacement components of 2010 shipments, Besancon said, totaled 2.13 million tires – radial and bias – up 21% vs. 2009. Again, though, the replacement market was still low; from January 2008 to the end of 2010, replacement shipments were down 20.5%.

On the OE side – bias and replacement – total 2010 units came in at 930,000 tires, up a whopping 99.2% compared to the year prior. Hit hardest in the economic downturn, OE shipments were down 40.6% for the period of January 2008 through December 2010, he said.

Surface mining tires – those 49-inch and greater sizes – saw 245,900 tires shipped, up 23.5% vs. 2009 and up 18.4% since January 2008, he showed.

Wrapping up the first day was a special presentation by a number of OTR retreaders, who gave attendees an inside look at their operations, in particular how they were handling 49-inch and larger mining tires. On the panel were Dennis Bull, president of BR Retreading; Noah Hickman, president of H&H Industries; Ken Samborsky, plant operations coordinator for Kal Tire; Jim Walters, vice president of OTR retread marketing for McCarthy OTR Retreading; Brian Hayes, vice president of manufacturing for Purcell Tire & Rubber; Ed Petros, sales manager with RDH Tire & Rubber; Mike Berra, TIA president and president of Community Tire Retreading; and Mark Goodes, CEO of Craft Tire. TIA’s Marvin Bozarth moderated the panel discussion.

The second day of the conference was dominated by the keynote address of Rasey, who also was the conference’s keynoter in 2007. Rasey’s engaging comments gave the audience a unique look at factors that are impacting the OTR tire industry – now and in the future – including raw material costs, the industrialization and rapid growth of BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the boom in global mining and petroleum exploration, and the expected impact of the growing global population and the associated demands on infrastructure, housing, energy and mineral resources.

As for the raw material question, hot on everyone’s minds, Rasey said: “Personally, I’ve never seen anything like it. In fact, as I speak to you this morning, the price of natural rubber has risen 92% in just one year. The price of natural rubber is up almost 250% from November 2009.”

In looking at the changing demands on OTR equipment and tires, Rasey commented, “As the demand for more specialized machines increases, all of us must become more specialized than generalized if we’re going to grow alongside these evolving segments. And it means that our capabilities to support these machines and the customers that use them must also become highly specialized.

“This ‘innovative disruption’ in machine evolution will require us to shift quickly from being all things to sell to many, to being far more ‘solutions-driven performance consultants.’”

Tire repair experts also took center stage on day two with a panel presentation led by TIA’s Bozarth. Demonstrating the stages of proper OTR tire repair were Wayne Jackson, president of International Tire Repair Solutions; David Rimmer, OTR sales director for Patch Rubber Co.; John Garrett, technical director for Rema Tip Top North America; and Ron Reiring, OTR sales manager for Tech International.

The care and maintenance of modern service trucks was covered by a group of service truck suppliers, including Keith Jarman, president of AME International; Kevin Rohlwing, senior vice president of training for TIA; John Collins, president of American Crane; Travis Glidden, sales manager for Stellar Industries; Bill Burns, sales manager for IMT; and Scott Pearson, vice president of Fleet Equipment.

Finally, former sports writer and now motivational speaker Don Yaeger finished off the program with an engaging talk about his past experiences with sports figures and how some of these lessons apply to leading a successful business.

Next Conference
TIA announced the dates and locations for the next two events. Normally, TIA only works one year out, but as events chairman Tom Formanek, regional sales manager for Stellar Industries, said, with the growing size of the OTR Conference, event advisors urged the association to plan out the next two years.

The 2012 OTR Conference will be held Feb. 15-18 at the Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, Calif.
In 2013, the conference will be held Feb. 20-23 at the Grand Melia Golf Resort in Puerto Rico.