Dealers are certainly a bunch of complainers. All I ever hear any more is "Price increase this…" and "Price increase that…" It was as though their suppliers were trying to cut into their business or something!

So there have been a few price hikes along the way. Bumps in the road, I say. It’s not like the tiremaker didn’t earn ‘em or anything. I mean really. So what if there has been 77 individual price increase announcements by 18 tiremakers thus far this year. Hey, look at it this way…Those are only the ones we know about. It could always be much worse, you know. If tire companies came clean with their secret increases and “in-line adjustments,” why your heads would really spin, I tell ya!

Seventy-seven increases has to be some kinda record, don’t it? That’s good news, eh? We do love our records and all. “World’s tallest tire.” “World’s most expensive tire.” Consumers just eat that stuff up! Sell it to ‘em. Make them want to be part of the craze! That’ll shut ‘em up.

I just don’t understand what all the kvetching is about. So one tiremaker took six increases in six months and another had five. Hell, one just crushed it with 12! In six months!

And they were beauties, eh? 11% here, 12% there. I’m sorry…up to 11% here and up to 12% there. The real champs were Goodyear with 15% on truck tires (effective Apr. 1) and Toyo with a matching level on its truck tires as of May 1. Man, I laugh when I think back on the old days back in the mid-2000s when price increases were a paltry 3% to 5%…sorry…I mean up to 3% and up to 5%.

They want to blame the rubber trees and oil barons. Heck, we all do. But how hard can it be to sell tires to people who desperately need tires? If you’re running on cords, you’re just about screwed, whether you have a job or not. Look, if you can convince your customer to forego just one month’s rent or mortgage payment, they could get that new set of $1,400 tires for their Bloatmobile! Ya gotta want the sale!

I know this is not a totally complete list, but it’s the best I got. So if yer at all curious as to what companies did what, when and how, here’s what we have so far:

Bridgestone Americas: 6 increases for U.S. and/or Canada, one on consumer replacement and OE, rest on truck, OTR and Ag.

CGS/Mitas: 1 increase on Ag.

CMA: 2 increases for the U.S. and Canada on truck/bus and OTR.

Continental Tire the Americas: 5 increases for the U.S., two on consumer and three for truck.

Cooper: 2 increases for the U.S. and Canada on consumer tires.

Falken: 4 increases for the U.S. and Canada, two for truck and two for consumer.

Federal: 1 on consumer tires.

Goodyear: 9 total (2 for Canada, 2 for U.S. and 5 for North America), five for truck tires and/or retread materials, one for ATV tires and three for consumer tires.

Hankook: 3 increases for U.S. and Canada, two for truck and one for consumer.

Kumho: 1 increase of an unknown amount for consumer tires in the U.S.

Marangoni: 2 global increases for retreading precure tread stock.

Michelin: 12 increases (four just for the U.S., two just for Canada, and the rest for North America, four for commercial tires and/or retread materials, four for consumer tires, and the rest for OTR, Ag and ATV/motorcycle.

Nexen: 2 increases for North America, on just for consumer and the other for consumer and commercial.

Pirelli: 4 increases (three for the U.S. and one for Canada), three on consumer tires and one on motorcycle tires.

Sumitomo: 1 global increase on consumer and commercial tires.

Titan: 3 increase, all for the U.S., two for farm and OTR, and one for ag tires only.

Toyo: 6 increases total, four for the U.S. and two for Canada, one for all consumer and commercial, two just consumer, and three just commercial.

Trelleborg: 2 increases for North America on ag and forestry tires.

Yokohama: 11 total increases (six for the U.S. only and five for just Canada), four just for commercial, two just for OTR, five for consumer.

Oh, I didn’t give you the percentages, did I? Well, “real” numbers don’t mean nuthin’. Kinda like those speed limit “suggestion” signs. Just take the prices they give ya, add a little for yourself and get to sellin’!!