An Inside Look at Goodyear’s Direct Online Sales Effort – Part II
Last January at its annual dealer conference, Goodyear unveiled plans to launch direct-to-consumer online sales across the U.S. through its Goodyear.com website. The announcement was met with a good bit concern by dealers, some of which quite vocally denounced the move as another slap to the face of independent distribution. At the time of the
Titan Chief Ready to Pull Trigger on OTR Tariff Play
A friend of mine who is close to the government agencies involved in setting anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imported goods called me the other day. He had a few questions about imported OTR and ag tires, specifically he wanted to clarify a few things about pneumatic versus non-pneumatic units and where certain manufacturing was
An Inside Look at Goodyear’s Direct Online Sales Effort – Part I
Last January at its annual dealer conference, Goodyear unveiled plans to launch direct-to-consumer online sales across the U.S. through its Goodyear.com website. The announcement was met with a good bit concern by dealers, some of which quite vocally denounced the move as another slap to the face of independent distribution. At the time of the
Commentary: Tire Registration Ploy Another Intrusion by a Government That’s Gunning for Us
Last week, I saw a television report about the huge number of tire recalls and accidents allegedly caused by flawed tires. In classic TV style, it showed the aftermath of gory accidents. It also showed close-ups of tires that had peeled apart like celery stalks. Statistics were cited. Panic predicted. What came next made me
The Lean Green Gas of Home, SEMA Notes & Tire Trained Women
Where have all of the green tires gone? Long time passing…apparently. At the SEMA Show/Global Tire Expo last week, I walked through a number of tiremaker booths and checked out the new rubber. Perhaps I didn’t look in all of the right places (there were a lot of tires), but I can’t recall seeing the
Pirelli Race Chief Talks Tires, Personalities and the U.S.
Tire Review was a guest of Pirelli Tire North America at the recent Grand Prix of Mexico in Mexico City. During the event, we had the chance to sit down with Paul Hembry, Pirelli’s global director of motorsport, to chat about the tiremaker’s new Formula 1 supply deal and plans for the future. On preparing
To TIA: Let’s Continue to Support Industry Females
As a woman covering news in the tire industry, the Tire Industry Association’s efforts this past year, lead by President Freda Pratt-Boyer, started to get me excited for females working in the industry. The association had an entire issue dedicated to women in the tire industry; it hosted its first all-female certified ATS class; and
Raising the Bar: Safety Systems for People or Profit?
If you raise the bar should you expect others to follow? Does raising the bar establish only one new level of competence or does it instill consistent focus on continuous improvement? What if you felt that raising the bar would benefit another group, but that group doesn’t seem to notice or care? Where is the
Looking Ahead to 2016
This November, I will be taking over as president of the Tire Industry Association (TIA), a role in which I am truly honored to serve. With more than 7,500 members, TIA is the largest it has been in its history. But it’s not all about size; it’s about the strength of the association and how
Bald Dump Tires Nearly Kill Students; Korea’s Messy Labor World
On Aug. 27, a large truck owned by G.B. Green Construction Management was involved in an accident with an Escambia County, Fla., school district bus carrying students. Fifteen Pensacola High School students and the bus driver were injured, and transported to local hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening, fortunately. The bus, though, was knocked
Safety Must Drive Tire Registration Conversation
You’ll see on page 8 of this issue that Tia Disagrees with my take that our industry’s two associations aren’t really speaking with each other. I will say only that, respectfully, we will agree to disagree. That lack of relationship – not just being “in agreement” – does matter, for a lot of reasons. Real
State Association Goes on Ice, And We’re All Poorer For It
It pained me to hear the news about the New Jersey State Tire Dealers Association going on hiatus. Mergers, buyouts and a general lack of interest by independent tire dealers in the state contributed to NJSTDA president and friend of the show Al Breese informing membership that everything was going on ice for the foreseeable
