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Ag tires EMPHASIZING AG

BEST-ONE OF INDY CONTINUES GROWTH WITH AN EYE ON COMMERCIAL

By Joy Kopcha

Medium truck tires remain an important part of Best-One of Indy’s overall business. But as the 13-location company expands its footprint beyond the Indianapolis metro area, it’s also servicing more ag tire customers.

When Indy Tire Centers Inc., dba Best-One of Indy acquired two R&T Tire stores this spring, it was the latest evidence of the company’s growth. But just as important, it gave Best-One of Indy another entry point into Indiana’s farming economy.

“We’ve been a pretty diverse company since we started,” says Scott McKenzie, vice president of commercial for Best-One of Indy. “We’ve always provided ag and OTR and truck tire services, but as we expand out of the major metropolitan area of Indianapolis, it’s de nitely an emphasis on ag.”

With Best-One of Indy’s home base in Indianapolis, a city that serves as the intersection of four major interstates, medium truck tires have long been an important part of the dealership’s business. ( e Indiana Department of Transportation says Indiana is the nation’s h busiest metro area for commercial freight tra c, with 724 million tons passing through annually.)

Best-One of Indy serves a diverse clientele and its business is a 50-50 mix of retail and commercial. McKenzie says the R&T Tire acquisition adds to both sides of that business and gives Best-One of Indy 13 locations in central Indiana. e R&T Tire store in Noblesville, an Indianapolis suburb, is a retail outlet and the location in Tipton, about 50 miles north of downtown Indianapolis, is a commercial location with “a heavy emphasis on ag.

“We are de nitely getting more in the ag business because we have the footprint for it now,” says McKenzie. at includes a commercial store in Lafayette, added in late 2020, “that is surrounded by agriculture.” e store in Tipton is about 20 miles away from an existing store in Kokomo and McKenzie says Tipton “complements Kokomo to reduce our response times to service calls and better serve our eet customers.” e company also o ers commercial and ag tires at its location in Columbus, Ind., the former Frank Anderson Tire Co., which it acquired in 2019.

Last year, the company committed to expanding its ag business in Kokomo. It hosted a breakfast for farmers, supported county

Finding people and nding tires

Scott McKenzie, vice president of BestOne of Indy’s commercial division, has grown up in the industry, learning from his mother, Dorothy, who was one of the founding partners of the company. We asked McKenzie to weigh in on three big issues facing the commercial tire business in 2021:

Hiring. The search for employees, McKenzie says, is a careful balance of watching payroll and securing good workers when they present themselves. He says Best-One of Indy is “erring on the high side.” That means if the company needs to hire one technician, but nds two quali ed employees during its search, “we’re going to hire both of them. You don’t know what tomorrow brings.”

Tire supply. Truck tire manufacturers with domestic production are bouncing back, but McKenzie says “we’re having problems with the import brands” and a majority of the issues are outside of the supplier’s control — such as the backup of ships and containers at West Coast ports. “But they’re getting better. Our ll rates for our traditional suppliers are in the 70th percentile (and are) still on the rise.”

Opportunities for new brands. As tiremakers have tried to ramp up production to meet demand in the last year, there have been shortages. McKenzie says that has presented opportunities for other brands to ll in the gaps. “We’re not going to not sell tires to our eets. We are their trusted provider to keep them going. We’ve switched brands to keep their trucks going. It will be interesting to see how fast (certain brands) transition back — if they do.”

fairs in the region and found other ways to become involved in the community. “We increased our ag sales in Kokomo by 84%,” says McKenzie. “We saw the model. Scott McKenzie We worked the model. says Best-One of Now it’s wash, rinse Indy is ready to expand its new mechanical truck and repeat for the other locations.” repair services It’s that kind of to more markets formula that will help — as soon as it hires more technicians. the company continue to grow, he says. “We’re looking at opportunities to put more dots on the map in the central Indiana area,” says McKenzie. “We’ll take every opportunity that comes to us and evaluate it. Being 50-50 retail/commercial is a nice balance when you look at cash sales and national account sales.”

INVESTING IN MECHANICAL REPAIRS

In the last 18 months, Best-One of Indy has added truck mechanical services for eets as a way to ll yet another need.

McKenzie says the dealership offers 24-hour mobile mechanical service, as well as dedicated mechanical services for eets and drive-in service at the company’s commercial locations. e menu includes alignments and Department of Transportation inspections for trucks and trailers, plus things like chassis and suspension work and light line repair.

“ e market needs it,” he says. “A lot of us are getting into it.”

Here’s why he believes more independent tire dealers are adding those services.

“It seems like it’s catching up to retail. Back in the day, you were a tire company, but now you’re doing tires to complement your service business and the model is being expanded to commercial. You have these relationships with eets, but eets have a need for mechanical services, so why not o er those and help them out?

“ ese days if you take your truck to an OE truck dealership, their wait time is three weeks. We experience it when we take our trucks there and it’s something we can’t service ourselves. We pride ourselves on cutting down the downtime.”

It depends on the complexity of the job and availability of parts, but McKenzie says Best-One of Indy is “probably 50% faster” than the OE dealerships.

Mechanical work is “a pro table segment. at’s why we’re focusing on and expanding that.”

It’s currently available within a 75-mile radius of Indianapolis, “but we de nitely have plans to expand mechanical into all of our commercial and combo stores.”

So far that mechanical work is dependent on a team of six or seven technicians, some of whom have split duties. Best-One of Indy’s lead technician is currently o work a er breaking his leg.

“I would love to move to 10 tomorrow if the right people walked through the door,” says McKenzie. “We have trucks built for them, waiting to get on the road.”

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