Ag tires
EMPHASIZING AG BEST-ONE OF INDY CONTINUES GROWTH WITH AN EYE ON COMMERCIAL By
Joy Kopcha
Finding people and finding 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:
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.
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hen 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 definitely 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. (The Indiana Department of Transportation says Indiana is the nation’s fifth busiest metro area for commercial freight traffic, with 724 million tons passing through annually.) Best-One of Indy serves a diverse clientele
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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. The 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 definitely getting more in the ag business because we have the footprint for it now,” says McKenzie. That includes a commercial store in Lafayette, added in late 2020, “that is surrounded by agriculture.” The 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 fleet customers.” The company also offers 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
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 finds two qualified 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 fill 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 fill in the gaps. “We’re not going to not sell tires to our fleets. 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.” MTD June 2021
6/1/21 9:30 AM
