A Fresh Look: Supply Problems and Advancing Technologies Fuel Retreading Growth
Suppose for a moment that you’re the owner of a candy store, and that, for quite some time, you’ve been selling all of the quality candy that you can possibly stock in your limited storage space. And, suppose that your customers seem to be happy campers and that, for once in your career, they aren’t
Built to Last: Smart Lifecycle Cost Control Can Help Fleets Squeeze Every Last Mile Out of Every Casing
Here’s a bulletin for fleet maintenance managers responsible for extending tire casing life: If you start a serious tire inflation program today, you will enjoy a 10% improvement in tire mileage expectations tomorrow. That’s only the beginning. If you add a proper tire rotation program, daily calibration of your tire pressure gauges, an alignment program
It’s in the Air: Proper Air Pressure is Key to Tire Performance and Optimized Tire Investment
Truck fleets and commercial tire dealers probably already know that tire costs are second only to fuel when calculating total operating costs. Managing tires properly – and that means being diligent in keeping air pressures where they are supposed to be – can maximize tire dollars. In a Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) tire failure
Looming Mandate: Without Help, Dealers Face Dark Future. How Will You Cope?
To many in the tire industry, TPMS is a four-letter acronym that is quickly becoming a four-letter word. That goes for retail dealers and, soon, consumers alike. But these people are only considering the hassles involved with servicing tire/wheel assemblies featuring these gizmos. Look a little deeper, and you’ll see the potential for independent tire
No End in Sight: Whether Premium- or Value-Priced, UHP Tires Are Here to Stay
Need some good news for once? Ultra-high performance tires have mushroomed into the single fastest-growing tire segment. From 2000 to 2004, sales of UHP tires were up 161%, jumping 32% from 2003 to 2004 alone. In terms of units sold, the numbers look like this: 3.99 million in 2000, 7.9 million in 2003 and 10.4
Pushing Rope?: How High Will Another Price Increase Fly With Strapped End-Users?
Rumblings are up about an upcoming round of across-the-board tire price hikes. No one should be surprised. Legacy costs, operating costs and, most especially, raw material costs, are chewing up tiremakers, especially those on these shores. The price increases invoked over the last three years have certainly been warranted, and, for the most part, those
Running Silent: Denman’s New President Quietly Yet Decisively Charts a New Course
Career changes come in many forms, just as challenges do. When Manny Cicero took over as president of Denman Tire Corp. in May, he took on a very challenging career change. Like all small specialty firms, Denman, based in tiny Leavittsburg, Ohio, battles much larger but less agile competitors for sales and share. The tiremaker
The Last Act?: Even After Attendance Boost for “Positive” WTE, TIA Officials Looking at Options
Even After Attendance Boost for “Positive” WTE, TIA Officials Looking at Options
A Weighty Vocation: Exploring Often-Overlooked Fire Truck Tire Business Can Ignite Profits
If you’re a commercial tire dealer, you may be overlooking a relatively simple and lucrative business opportunity. Chances are good you drive right past a potential new source of sales every day and never even give a second look. That potential customer is right in your local fire station. Why is the opportunity to sell
Maxed Out?: Size Race Slows, But Fashion vs. Function Questions Remain for Dealers
For a few years, the tire and wheel industries resembled the Cold War nuclear arms race – every year, someone rolled out a bigger weapon. It started with eye-popping, wheel-well-stretching 20-inch wheels and tires and progressed to the 2004 SEMA Show, where gigantic 28-inchers were every where. A sort of dÉtente has settled in, if