Servicing coal mines takes teamwork

With fewer tires available, inventory also is turning faster. “Our inventory levels are understandably lower. To a certain extent, this has been good, as our turns have gone up and we have been able to move some excess and slower-moving stock.”

Walter Dealtrey, CEO and president of Bethlehem, Pa.-based Service Tire Truck Centers Inc. says inventory levels are helping his company’s nancials.

“ e good news is we have less inventory to carry, which helps the balance sheet. While it’s di cult to obtain everything we need, our sales are still up a lot over both 2019 and 2020.”

Tire dealers are no strangers to working hard to nd good employees.

Historically, there’s been a shortage of automotive technicians and other mechanically-minded workers entering the industry. And the skill set for the commercial business is even more pronounced.

But the search has been exacerbated by the larger condition of the U.S. workforce as the economy rebounds from the pandemic.

Dealtrey boils down the long-term e ect at STTC.

“If we had more people we could grow even more,” he says. “We are doing more with less people, but we are paying more for the ones we have.”

As for recruiting, Dealtrey says the company is o ering a bonus to employees who recommend a new worker, plus signing bonuses for new employees. e search spans social media, physical signs and personal o ers to people his team encounters at other businesses.

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Callaghan Tire has a similar approach. Mead says wages for service technicians and retread technicians have increased up to 25%.

“Recruiting efforts have been a struggle,” he reveals. “We have concentrated our search on people who are currently employed, as they have already made the decision to work. Being the employer of the unemployed is a futile strategy.” Earl Colvard, presi- Bauer Built invested in a robotic wheel painter that will help the dent of Deland, Fla.- tire dealership produce 50% more based Boulevard Tire wheels with the same labor force. Center, says he’s still having trouble nding The painter applies a consistent coating, which is veri ed during the quality control process. Each and retaining workers, piece is labeled so customers can “despite the fact we have verify and track their wheels. increased wages.”

On top of higher pay, Good Tire and Rice Tire have both expanded their o erings of bene ts for employees. e cost of not just wages — but also those bene ts — has increased. Benton at Black’s Tire points out that “the opportunity for careers in the commercial service business are tremendous.”

John McCarthy Jr., president of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc., says his dealership is doubling down on its motto that “McCarthy Tire is a great place to work.

“Our focus has been to get ahead of losing a great teammate and to take care of them before they consider leaving us.

“Although we regularly review wages to ensure consistency and competitiveness, we were more focused on this task during the past year. We increased wages of many teammates and rolled our bonus incentives for their dedication to McCarthy Tire.”

One area that several dealers are tackling is the expansion of truck mechanical services. St. Cloud, Minn.-based Royal Tire is doing mobile mechanical repair in several locations and mobile alignments at each of its locations, says President Mick Pickens.

Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Tredroc Tire Service Inc., Ziegler Tire and Boulevard Tire are expanding their service options.

Updating tools and equipment is a regular part of the process for most dealers and on the commercial side, that, too, has been a ected by the nation’s resurgence from the pandemic.

Dealers report that service trucks and other pieces of equipment are on back order.

Even though Bauer Built Tire & Service says its biggest investments in the last year were in its people, the company also purchased a robotic wheel painter for its home base in Durand, Wis.

Mike Weber, Bauer Built’s vice president of operations and manufacturing, says the device “allows us to produce 50% more wheels with the same labor force.”