Modern Tire Dealer - April 2020 by EndeavorBusinessMedia-VehicleRepairGroup

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RETREADING 2020: Top 50 retreaders feel the pressure Retread execs sound off on the market

TIRE DEALERS REACT TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF SOCIAL MEDIA: REAL-WORLD ADVICE IN IT TOGETHER: DEALER PROGRAM GROUPS PROTECTING YOUR DEALERSHIP’S REPUTATION: WHAT’S YOUR POLICY?

Stay tuned to www.moderntiredealer.com for COVID-19 updates

A 2020 | Vol. 101, No. 4 | $10 | A Bobit Publication | www.moderntiredealer.com April r m

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The Industry’s Leading Publication April 2020, Volume 101, Number 4

DEPARTMENTS 2 Editorial

F E AT U R E S 20

The do’s and don’ts of social media

In it together: dealer program groups

Tips to prepare for A/C repairs

Absolutely essential: Tire dealers keep society rolling during COVID-19 crisis

4 moderntiredealer.com

Stay tuned to MTD’s website for updates on COVID-19

6 Industry News

‘Uncharted waters’: Dealers react to COVID-19 outbreak, prepare for impact

16 Your Marketplace

Blame it on the weather: How a warm February hurt dealer sell-out

18 Numbers That Count

Relevant statistics from an industry in constant motion

56 DSP Insight

Are you protecting your most valuable asset? Improper social media use can hurt your reputation and business

60 Business Insight

Convenience is king: Put your prices online — but don’t be the cheapest

62 Mergers and Acquisitions

Examining the hierarchy of value: Where does your dealership fit?

64 Business Insight

Employees not hitting the mark? Make sure you’re setting the right G.O.A.L.S.

30 36 40

Commercial Tire DealerTM

Retreaders feel the pressure on many fronts Top 50 U.S. Retreaders Retread execs sound off on the market

41 Bridgestone: ‘We are optimistic’ 44 Continental: Retreading is ‘key’ to lifecycle approach

Marangoni continues to invest in its network

Focus on Dealers 68 Second time’s the charm! Couple fulfills ‘calling’ by opening new dealership

Michelin: ‘Always evaluating opportunities’

70 Point S celebrates a ‘record year:’ Group sees potential in Les Schwab sale

47 48

Vipal: Room to grow

Can tires enhance precision agriculture?

Commercially Viable

66 European Notebook

What’s in a label? Major tire label redesign in Europe is on the way

72 TPMS

Chrysler Town & Country — 2008-2016

78 Products 80 Ad index 82 Classified

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Editorial

Absolutely essential

TIRE DEALERS KEEP SOCIETY ROLLING DURING COVID-19 CRISIS By

Mike Manges

hen things are running smoothly and the world is spinning as it should, it’s all too easy to take independent tire dealers and the services they provide for granted. But in times of distress, the critical role that you, our readers, play in keeping our economy — and indeed, our way of life — rolling is brought into stark relief, and even more so when lives are at stake, as they are now during the COVID-19 pandemic. While federal, state and provincial governments throughout the United States and Canada have taken extraordinary measures to minimize the spread of COVID-19, many professionals — from doctors, nurses and pharmacists to long haul truck drivers and power restoration teams — are still out there, performing essential services that help keep the rest of us safe and sound. And you and your employees are on the front lines with them. As the COVID-19 pandemic — and all the uncertainty around it – has intensified, the speed at which you have implemented measures to protect the safety of employees, customers and everyone you come in contact with — whether in your store or on the road – has been nothing short of impressive. And you’re doing it in a smart, thoughtful way that minimizes the physical spread of COVID-19 and helps put both employees and customers at ease. In the anxiety-ridden world we now occupy, that reassurance is incredibly important. Many of you have implemented “contact-less” vehicle drop-off/ pick-up policies that limit your physical proximity to customers, and vice versa. Some of you are driving to customers’ homes, picking up their cars, taking them to your shop for service and then dropping them back off — again minimizing potentially dangerous contact, and giving people more time to take care of their families and check on relatives, neighbors and friends. You are stepping up sanitation procedures — making sure that not only customer-facing things (counter tops, door handles, key drops, etc.) are regularly disinfected, but also that tools and shop equipment are decontaminated. And you’re communicating to customers in a timely, clear and empathetic way as you continue to monitor the situation and adjust what you’re doing, as needed — keeping their well-being top of mind. When federal and local governments began to react to the COVID-19 pandemic by issuing “shelter-in-place” and “stay-athome” orders, many of you wondered if your dealerships would be classified as essential businesses.

The next vehicle you service could belong to a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or another medical professional.

While my understanding, at press time, is that the state or province where you live and work ultimately has jurisdiction over this designation, it’s clear that you consider what you do to be absolutely essential. And I have no doubt that your customers agree. Last week, a dealer who has dozens of retail tire stores throughout southern California told me that “there’s no public transportation around here. Doctors, nurses, first responders — all the people who have to work at gas stations and supermarkets — need to be able to get their cars fixed if there’s a problem.” On the other side of the country, another dealer — whose company specializes in commercial tires and emergency roadside service — told me, “We’re doing whatever is necessary to keep trucks moving so people can get what they need.” Whether it’s helping an 18-wheeler that’s hauling food to a cleaned-out grocery store get back on the highway after a flat or fixing the brakes on a medical professional’s car so he or she can get to a hospital and help others, you and your employees are providing a profoundly essential, valuable service — at a time when that service is needed the most. You have every right to be proud of this. On behalf of MTD, thank you for everything you are doing to help all of us during this challenging time. ■ How are you managing through the COVID-19 crisis at your dealership? Please let MTD know what you’re doing by emailing me at mike.manges@bobit.com.

MTD April 2020

ModernTireDealer.com DIGITAL RESOURCES FOR THE INDEPENDENT TIRE DEALER

MTD digital edition You can view the digital version of Modern Tire Dealer’s monthly magazine plus archived issues at https://www.moderntiredealer.com/magazine/past-issues Stay tuned to www.moderntiredealer.com for continuing coverage of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis on the tire industry, including dealers. Stories will be archived in the “COVID-19 Updates” special section on the landing page of MTD’s website.

eNewsletters Sign up now for Modern Tire Dealer eNewsletters. We’ll send you the latest news and most popular articles. Go to: www.moderntiredealer.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up. See “Be the First to Know.”

Keep tabs on the industry with Modern Tire Dealer on Facebook and Twitter. You’ll find breaking news alerts and exclusive content, including photos and news bits when the MTD editors are on the road. Follow MTD and tag along for the journey! Like MTD on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ModernTireDealer

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COURTESY GETTY IMAGES

It wasn’t that long ago when tire dealers were more interested in tire manufacturers’ price hikes and one tire manufacturer’s projection that it planned to open 50 new retail stores this year. plus other stories. And then the COVID-19 crisis hit, and all eyes were on news items about how it is affecting our industry. Here were the top 10 news items on www.moderntiredealer.com, shortly before press time. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Feds classify auto repair facilities as ‘essential’ during COVID-19 Goodyear will shut down manufacturing in Americas region Dealers react to coronavirus crisis, prepare for impact Tire dealers, auto repair shops essential, says VAA Special report: Coronavirus creates uncertainty in tire industry Global tire market suffers due to COVID-19 Michelin will close some plants due to COVID-19 Tire Talk with Mike blog: Just call it ‘Tire Land’ Bridgestone will open 50 new retail stores in 2020 Goodyear will hike consumer tire prices

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Keep watching www.moderntiredealer.com for COVID-19 updates. MODERN TIRE DEALER (ISSN 00268496) (CDN IPM #40013413) (USPS #369-170) is published monthly by Bobit Business Media, 3520 Challenger St., Torrance, California 90503-1640. Periodicals postage paid at Torrance, CA 90503-9998 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MODERN TIRE DEALER, P.O. Box 3312, Northbrook, IL 60065-3312. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for address changes to take effect. Subscriptions in the U.S. and its possessions, $65; Canadian, $99; Int’l surface mail, $99; Int’l airmail, $198. Single copies, $10, except the January Facts Issue, $30. Address all subscription correspondence to MODERN TIRE DEALER, P.O. Box 3312, Northbrook, IL 60065-3312. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks to receive your first issue. Please address Editorial and Advertising correspondence to MODERN TIRE DEALER, 3515 Massillon Road, Suite 350, Uniontown, OH 44685-6217. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without consent of Bobit Business Media. All statements made, although based on information believed to be reliable and accurate, cannot be guaranteed and no fault or liability can be accepted for error or omission. For your information: We sometimes make our subscriber information (i.e. fax, e-mail or mailing address) available to carefully screened organizations whose products and services may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to have your information made available, please write MODERN TIRE DEALER, P.O. Box 3312, Northbrook, IL 60065-3312.

MTD April 2020

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Industry News

‘Uncharted waters’

DEALERS REACT TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK, PREPARE FOR IMPACT

TD recently contacted several independent tire dealers to find out how they are reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government actions. “This represents uncharted waters for us,” says John Ziegler, vice president of Massillon, Ohio-based Ziegler Tire & Supply Co.

‘WE WANT TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE’

Ziegler Tire operates 18 commercial outlets, six retail stores and two distribution centers throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. “We don’t know what’s going to happen down the road,” says Ziegler. “Obviously, the key is the wellbeing and safety of everybody, including our employees, customers and anyone we come in contact with.” Ziegler Tire employees are taking measures to tamp down the possible spread of the virus by “washing hands constantly. If, by chance, any employee has a symptomatic issue, we want them to get checked and stay in touch with us. We want to keep everyone safe. That’s our number-one priority.” This includes the company’s trucking fleet customers. “We’re dropping off products in customers’ yards and emailing invoices to them just to maintain space between people,” he says. “Obviously, a road service call still requires getting out there and getting tires changed but we’re trying to reduce the amount of contact as much as possible.’ Ziegler believes that the economic fall-out from COVID-19 could have more of an impact on Ziegler Tire’s retail business. “Car count at our retail stores has been a little soft,” he says. “This is the time of the year when things start firing up. I do believe it will impact our retail business because of the precautions that people will — and should — take,” such as deferring non-essential car maintenance and repairs. “It’s a wait-and-see situation,” says Ziegler. “All we can do is pray for a quick resolution.”

Brandon Johnson, general manager of Eagle Tire Pros, says his dealership is “trying to be proactive and is operating out of an overabundance of caution.” Employees at the single-store operation are spraying down every surface, from tools and equipment in service bays to surfaces that customers touch.

‘TRYING TO BE PROACTIVE’

Three days after officials confirmed a case of COVID-19 in Campbell County, Tenn., Brandon Johnson, general manager of Eagle Tire Pros, said the family-owned dealership is “trying to be proactive and is operating out of an overabundance of caution.” When contacted by MTD, Johnson reported that the single-store, nine-bay

‘WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE WE’RE STAFFED UP AND READY.’ operation had not seen a significant slowdown in business, but “we’re looking for ways to prepare for that.” The store typically services about 1,000 cars a month. “Anytime something hits at home, it becomes a little more real.” The business has set an alarm to sound every hour. It’s a signal for employees to spray down every surface, from equipment in the bays to customer touch points in the lobby. Additionally, technicians are using sanitizer and washing their hands every time they get out of a customer’s vehicle. Johnson says the store is continuing the availability of its small fleet of courtesy vehicles for customers, and the vehicles are being sanitized between each use. Eagle

Tire Pros also offers a courtesy pick-up and drop-off service. “We don’t have Uber in our town, so we’re used to providing all the services for our customers.”

‘WE’VE GOT CARS IN EVERY BAY’

In Richmond, Va., Mark Smith’s five Midas stores are offering a service that requires no human interaction. Smith says each of his stores offers loaner vehicles to customers. (His busiest stores have 23 loaner vehicles.) His company is offering to drive a loaner vehicle to a customer, pick up the car that needs service, perform the work and return the repaired vehicle — all without any personal interaction. Customers just need to call a store, schedule the service and alert the staff where to find their vehicles’ keys. Then Smith or one of his employees will drop off a sanitized vehicle for the customer to use. When they return the repaired vehicle, it’s sanitized, too. After watching data released by the Centers for Disease Control, Smith thinks the worst of the effects of the virus are still to come. Smith admitted he has “some nervous techs,” so he is making a point of visiting stores and talking one-on-one with MTD April 2020

Industry News employees each day. He also is stressing basic safety steps: use of hand sanitizers, gloves, floor mats, and steering wheel covers, and washing hands often.

effect as companies try to catch up. “We’re actually building our inventory now in anticipation of it being over and people ordering a lot of tires.”

‘THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING’

‘IT WILL TRICKLE DOWN TO US’

Contacted one day after the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced the state’s 53rd confirmed coronavirus infection, Ray Ostrolecki, manager of Arandas Tire and Service in Detroit, Mich., said reactions to the coronavirus outbreak were already causing “somewhat of a decline” in his dealership’s business. “We’re seeing a lot less foot traffic,” he told MTD at the time. “I think this is just the beginning, unfortunately.” That said, some car repair services can’t be safely postponed, according to Ostrolecki. “If you have to fix something, you have to fix it. That’s all there is to it.” In the meantime, Ostrolecki and his staff have stepped up sanitary precautions. “The last thing we want is for someone to get sick. Will the (outbreak) end next month? Will they come up with a miraculous cure? Will it drag on for three months? We don’t know.”

‘ALL WE CAN DO IS BE PREPARED’

Service calls have picked up at Atlanta Commercial Tire Inc. as area businesses adjust to the COVID-19 emergency. The Forest Park, Ga.-based dealership operates nine stores and three retread plants. “We’re staffing full-on service techs because power companies and utilities are implementing some type of readiness plan,” says Larry Faulkner, the dealership’s vice president. Faulkner adds that his business is at the mercy of the market. “You can’t sell a tire unless someone needs it. All we can do is be prepared when we get a phone call to make sure we do not miss out on an opportunity to run a service call. That’s our best defense.” He told MTD that trucking fleets are running more miles than normal and seem to have additional vehicles out on the road. “We just have to make sure we’re staffed up and ready for that,” says Faulkner. To help protect employees, the company’s safety coordinator is distributing information daily. The bullet points discuss social distancing, handwashing, and other steps.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen down the road,” says John Ziegler, vice president of Ziegler Tire & Supply Co. “It’s a wait-and-see situation.”

“We have soap everywhere,” says Faulkner. Employees exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 infection must remain home if already there or go home if they start to

‘WE JUST DON’T KNOW WHO ALL IS GOING TO BE IMPACTED AND HOW HARD. IT WILL TRICKLE DOWN TO US.’ feel ill while at the workplace. “We made it very clear that if you feel sick in any way, by all means, stay at home,” says Faulkner. The stringent requirement even applies to employees who likely have seasonal allergies. “In Atlanta, the pollen has started, so we have people who are getting a little cough and watery eyes. We’ve had to send some people home because of pollen allergies.” Even during the public health crisis, Faulkner notes that grocery stores and home improvement stores are busy and emergency deliveries are being made on trucks. “I don’t know if it’s going to compensate for the slowdown in normal freight, but if people aren’t going out to eat, they’re still going to go to the grocery store. “There are still a lot of deliveries being made to the grocery stores and the home improvement stores.” He expects when business does start to return to normal, there will be a cascade

Steps taken so far by Gem City Tire Inc. to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 include sending medical professionals to meet with employees at every location. The dealership also set up a telephone hotline on March 16 to connect employees to a nurse who can answer virus-related questions. “We’re concentrating on providing facts and not rumors, which is difficult at this point,” says Jeff Lecklider, president of the Dayton, Ohio-based commercial dealership, which has eight locations in Ohio and Indiana, plus a retread plant. All Gem City Tire employees have received a memo from the dealership’s headquarters, outlining important phone numbers and procedures to protect themselves in their homes and workplaces. Lecklider notes that the nature of his dealership’s work means his employees aren’t working in tight quarters. “Most of our guys are in service trucks driving to the job, so they aren’t in big crowds of people and they aren’t dealing with the public,” he says. “We don’t have the general public in our facilities. We have truck drivers and a few customers on a daily basis.” All Gem City Tire outlets have sanitizers, soap, wipes and other items, thanks to the efforts of two employees who spent one full day making sure all locations were well-stocked. It’s too early to talk about the longterm impact on business, according to Lecklider. Much depends on what happens at customers’ operations. He says if the crisis is short-lived, Gem City Tire can weather the storm. “We just don’t know who all is going to be impacted and how hard. It will trickle down to us.” The only similar situation Lecklider recalls in terms of uncertainty was 9/11. “That was more from a financial market situation than it was employees and customers,” he says. “This is pretty much unprecedented for everyone at Gem City Tire. We’re learning as we’re going and if anybody wants to call us and give us good advice, we are all ears.” — MTD staff MTD April 2020

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Industry News

Global tire market suffers due to COVID-19

Bites CMA warehouses stay open China Manufacturers Alliance LLC says its seven North American distribution centers “will remain open and are operational” despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

Triangle plants near capacity Triangle Tire Tire USA says its four manufacturing plants are now operating near full capacity after a lull created by the Chinese New Year and subsequent coronavirus shutdown.

Latin American Expo update The Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo & the Latin Auto Parts Expo has been postponed to Nov. 17-20, 2020, in Panama due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More price hikes announced Pirelli Tire North America Inc. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. increased tire prices up to 5% in early April. Pirelli’s hike affects passenger and light truck tires in the U.S. Goodyear’s increase covers Goodyear and Kelly brand consumer tires.

Pep Boys sets a record Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack says its stand-alone service business concept achieved “record results” for the brand last year, and is better positioned to capture new business in the aftermarket.

Sailun expands plants Sailun Group Co. Ltd. has started major expansions at its production facilities located in Dongying and Shenyang, China. After the final stage, the Dongying plant will have the capacity to produce 27 million passenger tires. The Shenyang plant’s capacity will be five million tires.

Tornadoes net support After tornadoes hit parts of Nashville and middle Tennessee, Hankook Tire America Corp. donated $15,000 to the American Red Cross and Wegmann automotive USA Inc. gave $10,000 to the Middle Tennessee Disaster Relief Fund.

n March 18, alongside its latest market report, Groupe Michelin responded by saying it “has decided to close, for at least one week, its production facilities located in the European countries most affected so far by the pandemic.” (Two days later, the company announced it would suspend production at some plants in the United States and Canada.) Michelin also says its guidance for 2020 will be recast, as it “is no longer relevant” in the midst of a global “systemic crisis.” Here was the tiremaker’s perspective on the global tire industry at press time.

PASSENGER AND LIGHT TRUCK TIRES

China is “heavily penalized” by the COVID-19 crisis. The OE tire market is down by 78%, and the replacement tire market fell by 60%, compared to February 2019. In Europe, the impact in February was still limited. OE demand was in line with projections, Michelin says, but the replacement market was suffering from a warm winter and slight destocking effect. In North America, OE demand in February was stable, while the replacement market decreased significantly “notably because of a high basis of comparison.” Globally, there were only two bright spots: In North America, OE business was up 1% and in South America, the replacement market was up 4% over February 2019. Year to date, the South American replacement tire business is the only market up over 2020. It’s up by 3%. Comparison of February 2020 to February 2019 Region

Replacement

Europe including Russia & CIS

-9%

-4%

Europe excluding Russia & CIS

-3%

-4%

North America

+1%

-9%

South America

-21%

+4%

China

-78%

-60%

(Note: CIS includes Turkey)

TRUCK TIRES

In the same comparison of February 2019 to February 2020, Michelin sees a “continuing strong decline in OE demand in every market.” The OE truck tire market is down double digits in all four regions Michelin watches. In the replacement market, February was showing a growing demand in Europe — lifted by imports — while the replacement market was declining in North America. The replacement market was flat-to-positive in other regions in February. Comparison of February 2020 to February 2019

VW picks Nexen

Replacement

Europe including Russia & CIS

Region

-13%

+2%

Nexen Tire America Inc. will supply its N’Fera AU7 for the Volkswagen Passat, size 215/60R16 95T in Canada and size 215/55R17 94H in the United States.

Europe excluding Russia & CIS

-14%

+4%

North America

-21%

-6%

South America

-14%

(Note: CIS includes Turkey)

MTD April 2020

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Industry News

Bites TIA plans for 2021 The Tire Industry Association will host its next Off the Road Tire Conference Feb. 17-20, 2021, in Tucson, Ariz.

Jack’s Tire and A&E Tire merge Jack’s Tire & Oil Inc. of Logan, Utah, merged with A&E Tire Inc. of Denver, Colo., on April 1. The combined entity has 17 locations and six Michelin retread plants in five states, with revenue of $150 million.

Tianli hits the web Ag, construction and forestry tire manufacturer Tianli, in conjunction with China Manufacturers Alliance LLC (CMA), has launched its new website, www.tianlitires. com.

Tiremakers suspend manufacturing in response to virus

n one of the biggest manufacturing-related developments in many years, at press time, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Americas Inc. had temporarily suspended tire production at their plants in North, Central and South America due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goodyear has eight plants throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, while Bridgestone has 10 plants in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. Michelin North America Inc. announced it would shut down some of its plants in the United States and Canada, but did not specify which ones. (Michelin has a total of 16 plants throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.) Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. announced temporary closures of its plants in the U.S. and Mexico. Nokian Tyres and Hankook Tire America Corp. suspended production at their plants in Tennessee. Kumho Tire USA, Toyo Tire Holdings of America Inc. and Pirelli Tire North America announced production suspensions at their plants in Georgia. (Pirelli initially enacted a week-long slowdown in Rome, Ga., before closing.) Yokohama Tire Corp. suspended production at its truck tire plant in Mississippi and Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. shut down its plant in South Carolina. Continental Tire the Americas LLC said it was “gradually adapting” production at its tire plants.

Bartec picks sales lead Bartec USA has named Ed Jones its new director of sales, overseeing the company’s North American sales team. The company is no longer using independent sales reps to support customers, and instead is building a team of company associates to handle sales duties.

TBC supports families TBC Corp. is partnering with Ronald McDonald House Charities to support the families of hospitalized children. Support will include tire discounts for families and service discounts for the shuttle vehicles the charity uses.

Titan to stay up and running Titan International Inc. said it would maintain normal tire manufacturing operations during the COVID-19 crisis to “support the food and agriculture industry.” Titan has three plants in the U.S.

Discount Tire temporarily closes stores

iscount Tire, the nation’s largest independent tire dealership, has temporarily shuttered some stores and is limiting the services it provides nationwide to “essential customer needs” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement on March 18, Discount Tire stores are only offering what it Discount Tire said it was taking calls “essential” services, and encouraging precautionary measures, effective customers to pull their own cars into bays. immediately. This included the closing of 45 Discount Tire and America’s Tire stores (17 in California, 14 in Washington, nine in New Mexico, two in Minnesota and one each in Utah, Arizona and Oklahoma.) At press time, Discount Ture officials said only the stores in California and Washington remained closed. All other locations were performing essential services, including flat tire repairs, replacing unsafe tires and providing air pressure maintenance.

Leeds West expands Leeds West Groups has acquired a Midas store in Kearney, Neb., giving the group its fifth location in the state. It will be managed by Bob King and other Midas officials.

Apollo scales back Apollo Vredestein BV said it was scaling back production at its plants in the Netherlands and Hungary to protect its workforce “in line with government health and advisory measures” enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feds classify auto repair businesses as ‘essential’

uto repair and maintenance facilities should be considered “essential” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a memorandum issued by the federal government. The March 19 memorandum says, “If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, such as healthcare

services and pharmaceutical and food supply, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule,” Six trade associations, including the Tire Industry Association and Auto Care Association, called on government officials to consider the importance of auto repair facilities when considering orders to close other non-essential businesses. MTD April 2020

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Industry News

Bridgestone promotes Cichi, makes other changes

Bites Unimax, Point S are tops For the third straight year, Unimax Tire Ltd., the company that manages and markets the Point S brand in Canada, has made the list of Canada’s Best Managed Companies.

Fountain names MVP Fountain Tire Ltd. honored Henry Hildebrandt, owner of the Virden, Manitoba, Fountain Tire store, as the company’s most valuable player. The recipient of the award is selected from owners across the 160-store network.

Triangle promotes Baker Longtime tire industry engineer Tim Baker has been promoted to deputy general manager of A3T, the technical center for Triangle Tire in Akron, Ohio. Baker joined Triangle Tire in 2014.

Michelin joins AgPack Michelin North America Inc.’s Michelin and BFGoodrich brands are tire partners for Ram AgPack through Nov. 30, 2021. Ram AgPack is a group of agriculture dealerships that sell Ram trucks to farmers and ranchers.

VIP techs achieve Two more technicians at VIP Inc. dba VIP Tires and Service have achieved ASE World Class Technician status. Brian Haskell and Brent Runnals join five other VIP technicians with the World Class status.

Bridgestone will add 50 stores Before press time, Bridgestone said it expects to open 50 new stores in 2020. (Twenty of those locations were scheduled to open before the end of March.) Its company-owned network includes approximately 2,200 retail stores in the U.S. under the banners of Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works.

Advan Apex wins award Yokohama Tire Corp.’s ultra-high performance Advan Apex tire has won the 2020 iF Design award in the product category.

TIA seeks candidates The Tire Industry Association is seeking nominations for four board of director positions that will open in November.

ridgestone Americas Inc. has named Riccardo Cichi president and chief sales officer for North America. He most recently served as chief sales officer for Bridgestone Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. Cichi will lead a consolidated sales organization for both Bridgestone’s consumer replacement tire business and the commercial truck, bus and retread tire business in the U.S. and Riccardo Cichi Canada. He also will oversee the company’s GCR Tires & Service is Bridgestone’s new commercial service network. Chris Ripani, currently the president of GCR, will take on the president and chief sales expanded role of president of truck, bus and retread tires and GCR. officer in North Erik Seidel will remain in his current role as president of Bridgestone’s America. consumer replacement tire sales in the U.S. and Canada. Eric Higgs has been named senior vice president of marketing operations. Brian Goldstine, senior vice president of fleet management solutions for the company’s commercial tire business, will take on the expanded role of president of mobility solutions and fleet management. Craig Schneider, president of diversified businesses, has been named president of enterprise strategy, corporate development and diversified businesses. Bridgestone named Paolo Ferrari president, CEO and COO of Bridgestone Americas this past January.

Telle Tire buys five stores

ith the purchase of a five-store business in Kansas City, Mo., Telle Tire & Auto Centers Inc. has entered a new market and completed its biggest acquisition yet. On March 1, Telle Tire acquired KC Complete Auto Service, a five-store operation focused on automotive repairs. The company opened its first store in December 2004 and added four more locations, all

on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro area. Aaron Telle, CEO and president of Telle Tire, says the KC Complete Auto Service stores will continue to operate under their existing banner “and build on the strong brand that has been created in the market.” The acquisition gives Telle Tire 15 locations. ■

Former MTD Editor Lloyd Stoyer dies

loyd Stoyer, editor of Modern Tire Dealer from 1986 through 2000 and a Tire Industry Hall of Fame member, recently died at age 91. Stoyer, who was born near Youngstown, Ohio, enjoyed a long, distinguished career in journalism, working for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal for 15 years, the Lapeer County Press in Michigan and other publications. He also held a variety of public relations positions, most notably at Republic Steel. In addition, he served in the United States Army’s Counter Tire Industry Hall of Intelligence Corps during the Korean War. Stoyer joined MTD at a pivotal time in its history, says Fame member Lloyd Stoyer was editor MTD Publisher Greg Smith. “At heart, Lloyd was a reporter’s of MTD from 1986 reporter and had sources everywhere. He was extremely through 2000. respected by both independent tire dealers and tire company executives and used his influential voice to champion the interests of our readers.” Stoyer was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Faye. MTD April 2020

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Blame it on the weather

HOW A WARM FEBRUARY HURT DEALER SELL-OUT By

John Healy

omparing business trends in February 2020 versus February 2019, it appears that dealer sell-out levels have taken a turn for the worse. Dealer commentary suggests that consumer demand for passenger and light truck replacement tires fell in February compared to the prior year’s period. Furthermore, February showed a decrease in units sold for the first time since April 2018. From a volume standpoint, surveyed dealers reported they saw unit sales decline from up by 1.6% to down by 0.5% compared to the prior year’s period, coming in as the lowest observed growth rate in our tire demand index over the last 12 months. Our overall tire demand index was down 25.8% year-over-year and flat compared to just one month prior in January 2020. Dealers who responded to our recent survey noted that the shortfall in consumer demand can be blamed explicitly on extremely mild weather during the month.

TEMPERATURE TAKING

Climate conditions can single-handedly dictate the ups and downs of sellout trends in the tire industry, and February’s extreme negative trends were no different. Temperatures across the country were clearly above the levels seen in February of last year. When we compare February’s temperatures to 20th century averages, we see that temperatures were more than 12% warmer than history would suggest.

Only 12 states exhibited a decrease in temperatures compared to last February, all of which are located in the southern part of the United States. Looking at how states compared to historical averages in February of this year and in 2019, we saw that seven states reported a month that was in the top 10% coldest of February’s on record in 2019, while eight states had a month that was in the top 10% warmest on record for the 2019 time frame. Fast forward to February 2020 and our research indicates that no state had a top 10% coldest month, while nine states

CLIMATE CONDITIONS CAN SINGLEHANDEDLY DICTATE THE UPS AND DOWNS OF SELLOUT TRENDS. experienced a February that was among the top 10% warmest Februarys on record. Warmer temperatures will provide a more challenging backdrop for the industry over the next few months. As noted in previous columns, warmer-than-typical temperatures place less strain on vehicles in comparison to colder temperatures. It is also important to note the lack of precipitation throughout the country in February. This typically causes less volume growth for tires, as fewer people slip and slide across wet and icy roads, leading them to not see a need for investing in a new set of tires. Overall, we view February’s

Snapshot of dealers’ PLT tire volumes (year-over-year change) Dec-18

Jan-19

Nov-19

Dec-19

Jan-20

Feb-20

Average

Increase

42%

50%

55%

57%

30%

35%

41%

Flat

28%

21%

15%

14%

40%

30%

Decline

30%

29%

30%

29%

30%

35%

29%

Total

100%

SOURCE: NORTHCOAST RESEARCH ESTIMATES

decreased precipitation and increased temperatures as “negatives” in regard to compelling customers to purchase a new set of tires.

RAW DECLINES

Raw material prices decreased in February, as well. What we call “the basket” of raw materials needed to build a common replacement vehicle tire fell 6.7% on a year-over-year basis, while decreasing 2.4% from January. This drop is rather notable as it continues the reversion to the previous trend in the back half of 2019, where costs experienced five consecutive months of year-overyear declines, while December saw price increases. It should be noted that the movement in lower cost pressures has remained. Prices were projected to fall 3.6% yearover-year during the first quarter of 2020, while sequentially decreasing 0.4% from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year. Carbon black has begun to see its cost pressures subside on a year-over-year basis. Natural rubber prices fell substantially by 11.6% year-over-year in February, while showing a less extreme reduction of 2.5% from January. Crude oil prices had been experiencing notable cost pressures since peaking back in April 2019, with double-digit decreases year-over-year in the months leading up to December. February saw costs decline by 8%. Lastly, synthetic rubber costs have remained negative for 11 straight months year-over-year and price pressures on reinforcement items continue to track negative year-over-year at a mid- to uppersingle-digit rate. ■ John Healy is a managing director and research analyst with Northcoast Research Holdings LLC based in Cleveland, Ohio. Healy covers a variety of subsectors of the automotive industry.

MTD April 2020

SOURCE: MODERN TIRE DEALER 2020 JANUARY FACTS ISSUE

$30 million

Price of the most expensive car ever sold at auction â€“ a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 race car sold at Bonhams in 2013. SOURCE: HTTPS://AUTO.NDTV.COM

COURTESY WIKIPEDIA

42 seconds

The world record time for removing and replacing a car engine. It was accomplished by the UK Royal Marines on a Ford Escort in 1985. SOURCE: WWW.ALTDROVER.COM

COURTESY WIKIPEDIA

NumbersThatCount

2,584

Number of Walmart Auto Care Centers selling tires in the U.S. in 2019.

$850

The cost of the first Ford, sold in 1903. The Model A had a two-cylinder engine and could reach a maximum speed of 30 mph. SOURCE: WWW.ULMERSAUTOCARE.COM

U.S. TIRE SALES MARGINS

30%

25.3%

Retail passenger tires

15.4%

75%

Percent of cars that Rolls-Royce has ever produced that are still on the road today. SOURCE: WWW.ECONOMIST.COM

COURTESY WIKIPEDIA

Relevant statistics from an industry in constant motion

Medium/heavy truck tires

Retail light truck tires

13.5%

Wholesale passenger tires

21.3%

Commercial light truck tires

8.8%

Wholesale truck tires

SOURCE: MODERN TIRE DEALER 2020 JANUARY FACTS ISSUE

MTD April 2020

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Social media

The do’s and don’ts of social media REAL-WORLD ADVICE TO HELP YOU MAXIMIZE YOUR DIGITAL ROI By

Mike Manges

sed properly and with a well-thought out strategy in place, social media can help tire dealers boost awareness, drive more traffic to their stores and secure repeat customers. Used improperly and in a scattershot way, social media can potentially damage a dealership’s reputation and drive customers away. Ginger Griffin, a marketing professional with 25 years of experience helping independent tire dealers manage and grow their brands, has spent a great deal of time helping clients avoid negative, social media-driven outcomes. Many tire dealers use social media, she says. But not all are making optimal use of the channels that are available to them. “The two biggest mistakes I see are dealers using social media so sporadically that nobody pays attention to — or follows — their posts, and other dealers shoving information down their customers’ throats, all day, every day.” Dealers should seek a happy medium in both activity level and content, she

advises. But that can only be achieved if dealers first understand their audience. “The first step is to think about your customer base — their age, their location and their income,” says Griffin. “What’s important to them?” There’s nothing wrong with promoting new products, sales or services, “but what’s more important is establishing relationships with customers. You want to humanize your dealership.” Here are some ways to achieve that, she says: • Highlight your people and their expertise. “Post a brief Facebook message about

your top service technician and how he has special training and will take such great care of your customers’ vehicles.” • Spotlight work your dealership has done. Instagram, she says, is an effective tool for this, since that social media channel is so photography-driven. “Post ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of your customers’ tires, wheels and vehicles — with their permission, of course.” • Involve your audience. “Post questions like, ‘If you could have one dream car, what would it be?’ Hold a contest where you donate $200 toward a new set of custom wheels. Maybe you have a customer who owns three different sports cars? Would

Posting too often? Pushing boring content?

Are you making these common social media mistakes? The following social media mistakes should be avoided, according to marketing guru Ginger Griffin: • Overposting. “We advise that you don’t post every day — maybe three or four times a week instead,” she says. “Don’t make it all price-driven, as in ‘Come out today! We have a sale!’ Use your posts to establish your personality and brand.” And don’t get too wordy, she advises. “People think they have to get their full story across in one post. You don’t have to put everything into that first or second post. You want to make your main point and then leave some room for conversation with customers. Give them an opportunity to interact with you.” • Dull content. “Don’t put stuff out there just to put stuff out there. Maybe you’ve posted a link to a long, boring article about timing belt replacement. Why? Very few people will care about that. Don’t post boring, mundane content.” • One-way communication. “Ask your customers for their

opinions. Ask for their input.” Make sure you encourage regular dialogue. • Inauthenticity. “What do you stand for? How do you conduct business day in and day out?” Make sure the reality of your operation — from the appearance of your showroom to sales counter etiquette — matches the image that you are trying to portray, says Griffin. • Slow response rate. News travels at warp speed via social media. “That’s why it’s important to address customer concerns promptly and thoroughly. The fact that you took the time to deal with an issue sometimes means the world to a customer. And they will tell other people within their social media networks. “If you’re going to tout yourself as the dealer who truly cares about customers and their vehicles and doing the right thing, you have to walk the walk.” MTD April 2020

that person let you post a photo of his or her vehicles?” • Create and post videos about your dealership. “People tend to respond well to videos. But they should be short: 20 to 30 seconds. And you don’t need a professional videographer. If you have a decent cell phone, you’re golden. People don’t expect your videos to be incredibly polished. You can record something with your phone. That’s totally acceptable.” • Link up with different groups, like car clubs. “Reach out to them. Feature them on your social media channels. These communities are very tightly knit. Members will say, ‘Check out this tire dealership. They did a great job for me.’ You can even offer incentives – like 10% off a particular service – to members of different groups.” “The more you can make a personal connection, the better,” she says.

BEST PRACTICES BY CHANNEL

Social media channels are evolving constantly, according to Griffin. Here are tips

w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Smart social media use will help “humanize” your dealership, says social media expert Ginger Griffin.

for using four of the most prominent ones: • Facebook. “One of the hidden gems of Facebook is Facebook-boosted posts,” which Facebook members can set up

themselves. “They allow you to target different audiences. Let’s say you sell light truck tires and want to reach customers who love the outdoors within a 15-mile radius of your store. For as little as $25, Facebook will serve your boosted post to hundreds of people who fit that profile.” • Instagram. “Hashtags are important,” she says. “You can tag different groups, like car clubs.” If someone tags or follows your dealership, make sure you return the favor. “If someone likes your post, you’re supposed to like them back. It’s super-easy and only takes a couple of seconds. Sharing posts from suppliers and vendors can be effective, too.” Instagram is a highly visual medium and is dependent on photos. “You don’t necessarily need professional photography. But you do need quality images.” • Snapchat. “This channel is still very popular,” particularly with the under-40 crowd. “Put a sign up in your showroom that says, ‘Tag us and be entered to win’ a discounted product or service, she advises. “You also can put a sign on your counter that says, ‘Follow us on Snapchat.’”

Social media • Twitter. When composing Tweets, strive for a natural tone. Communicating through Twitter is most effective when tweets are made “on the fly. We don’t closely manage our clients’ Twitter accounts because the content they post should be more organic.” One of Griffin’s tire dealer clients recently found a kitten that was stuck under the hood of a customer’s car. He rescued the kitten and filmed the entire process, later posting it on his dealership’s Twitter account. “He had the foresight to say, ‘We should film this and do something with it.’ The video went viral. His customers loved it.”

MANAGING ONLINE REVIEWS

For better or worse, contending with online reviews is part and parcel of doing business in the social media age, according to Griffin. You can’t control what customers say about your business, she says. But you can control how you respond to online reviews. “You have to address every single comment — negative or positive. If someone has a complaint — even a small one, like ‘Your mechanic left dirty fingerprints on my car’ — you have to face it. Occasionally, you will see ridiculous complaints that you have no control over or aren’t just true. You have to address those, too.” Not comfortable with composing impromptu responses? Griffin says developing a basic template for responses can be a useful strategy. “But you have to come across as being genuine.”

The evolution of tire dealer marketing

Don’t be afraid to change with the times, says Griffin Ginger Griffin has guided clients through many changes in tire dealer marketing since she started her own agency in 1997. (Before that, she handled marketing duties for her husband’s tire dealership, Griffin Brothers Tire.) In most markets during the late-90’s, print advertising and direct mail were the dominant channels, with a mix of TV and radio thrown in for good measure, she says. “Yellow Pages also were a big thing. That’s all we had.” Ads often ran in the sports section of local newspapers. “If you included any kind of photography in print ads, it was usually just a black-and-white tire. And you might have some

information about pricing.” Realizing there was a bigger audience to capture — including women, whom, at the time, comprised up to 50% of her tire dealer clients’ customer base — Griffin began pulling ads from the sports pages and placing them in local news and lifestyle sections. “We began to promote the idea to customers that ‘We’re here for you, we’re here for your family, we’re here to make you safer and we’re here to make the tire buying process more convenient.” The refreshed messaging was well-received, according to Griffin. The advent of Internetbased marketing, including websites, proved to be an-

Dismissing online reviews “is a big mistake. Store owners who might not use social media themselves may not see the value in responding to online comments and could think, ‘I don’t have to worry about that.’ But you do.” Online feedback provides one more opportunity to personally interact with customers. After reading a negative review,

other challenge, she says. “We did our first website for a client in 1999. That was a big learning curve. Then when social media emerged years later, that was another thing we had to quickly figure out. ‘How can we utilize this to help clients establish their brand and get their message out?’” The lesson, says Griffin, is that tire dealers must be flexible and open-minded when it comes to marketing. What worked five or 10 years ago might not be effective today. “Traditional advertising and marketing methods still have their place. But there are so many additional channels you can now use to reach people.”

always follow-up with a personal call to the aggrieved party, she advises. “Seventy-five percent of the time, once you call and say, ‘I am so sorry. Here’s what happened. Will you give us an opportunity to make it right?’ people will take their negative posts down. Why? Because they were impressed that you took the time to deal with the problem.” ■

MTD thanks you, our readers, for everything you are doing to keep our front-line heroes rolling during this time of crisis.

MTD April 2020

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Program groups

In it together: dealer program groups BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIPS BUILD THE BOTTOM LINE By

Lori L. Mavrigian

rian Beggs is a second-generation tire dealer who owns Beggs Tire & Auto Service Inc., with locations in Albany and Philomath, Ore. The company was started in 1982 by Beggs’ father, Arnold, who had been in the tire business since 1968. It is a Les Schwab dealership. Beggs Tire & Auto sells all types of tires, from passenger and light truck to farm and forklift. The dealership caters to farmers, fishermen, soccer moms and all types of customers, and does 70% retail and 30% commercial business. It also offers full auto service. Beggs credits some of his success to his partnership with the Independent Tire Dealers Group (ITDG). “They’ve been great partners,” he says. He joined the group about 20 years ago when ITDG “came up to the Northwest looking to add members after they were up and going for a couple of years in California. We joined them, and it was one of the best things we’ve ever done. “A lot of our business is direct business, and ITDG’s purchasing power is excellent,” says Beggs. “They are always behind us, helping us grow. They have purchasing agents who sit down with us and help us plan. As an independent tire dealer, having a group like ITDG behind us has been very beneficial.” ITDG also has a captive insurance company, which Beggs takes advantage of, and he works with ITDG’s website developers and experts, who offer him advice on using social media. Following are some program groups available to tire dealers and updates on what they offer. (Stay tuned to MTD for information about other groups.)

INDEPENDENT TIRE DEALERS

Offered by: Community Wholesale Tire Distributing Website: www.itdroll.com

Who is eligible to participate? Select dealers are eligible.

Brian Beggs, owner of Beggs Tire & Auto Service Inc. in Albany and Philomath, Ore., takes advantage of buying and insurance programs available from ITDG.

What kind of fees are involved to be a member of your group? None. Do you help your members with tire rebates? How does that work? Yes, we provide instant rebates on various brands throughout the year. How do you help your members with social media advertising? We have a partner program with an outside company that provides that service. Do you hold meetings for your members? We have periodic training sessions. What’s new for members in 2020? Continuing to expand our customized online pricing for our members.

INDEPENDENT TIRE DEALERS GROUP

Offered by: Independent Tire Dealers Group LLC Website: www.itdgusa.com

Who is eligible to participate? Any independent tire and automotive dealer who goes through proper vetting with our company. We check area marketing to ensure there’s no conflicts with our current members. And the dealer must agree to the ITDG parameters: $2,400 annual dues, minimum of $200,000 per

year in purchases through our programs; and respect for our vendor and member marketing rules. (ITDG currently has 159 members operating 755 locations.) What kind of fees are involved to be a member of your group? The only fee we have is $2,400 in annual dues. Do you offer “geo-fencing” for your members (tailoring advertising programs to customers within a certain distance from their location)? Currently, we offer geo-fencing only through our approved partner vendors. ITDG doesn’t have a specific marketing tool internally. Do you help your members with tire rebates? How does that work? We offer many rebates, incentives, and opportunities through our partner vendors. Tire and auto parts manufacturers /suppliers are the most prevalent. As an example, all partner manufacturer vendor consumer rebate programs are communicated to our members and are available through links on the ITDG website. How do you help your members with social media advertising? We have multiple partner vendors who support ITDG, including Net Driven, Optimize MTD April 2020

Program groups Social Media, Moving Targets and TCS. Do you hold meetings for your members? We hold six to eight regional meetings for members in the surrounding areas. We invite three different partner vendors to present. We review what’s new with ITDG. (Members and vendors both stay for this.) We then go into a private, ITDG-only portion of the meeting, reviewing programs, sales and profitability results for ITDG. We hold an annual conference and trade show for all members and vendors. The 2019 meeting was held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Our 2020 convention and trade show has been re-scheduled for April 2021 and will be held in Nashville, Tenn. What kind of insurance options do you offer your members? We have a value-added program within ITDG: IICIC (Independent Innovative Captive Insurance Co.) This is for workers comp insurance. We have a partnership with Federated Insurance Group. What’s new for members in 2020? We continue to grow our membership base, which continues to strengthen their purchasing power. We will continue to add new partner vendors where it makes sense, as well as enhancing our already very attractive vendor programs. Jeremy Guy joined our team the middle of 2019 as a regional sales director handling the east and southeast, along with Michael Sullivan, who joined us as a regional sales director in January 2020 to support our efforts in the central U.S. Both Jeremy and Michael will report to our Senior Sales Director Chris Barry, who is also responsible for the western U.S., Hawaii, and Alaska.

MR. TIRE AND BIG 3 TIRE

Offered by: K&M Tire Inc. Website: MrTireOutlet.com and Big3Tire.com

Who is eligible to participate? Any dealer who purchases tires from K&M. What kind of fees are involved to be a member of your group? We do not charge for our program. We simply ask that our valued partners purchase tires from K&M. Do you offer “geo-fencing” for your members? Yes, we have found that “geofencing” gets results. Today’s technology allows us to reach potential customers that may have never considered buying from their local tire shop. w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Do you help your members with tire rebates? How does that work? We are proud to say we offer several exclusive rebates per year. We offer both conventional mail-in and instant, “at the counter” rebates to our valued partners. How do you help your members with social media advertising? We advertise all Mr. Tire and Big 3 Tire rebates and promotions on behalf of our dealers via social media free of charge. The goal for our social media advertising is to drive and increase car count to our partners stores. In addition to that we offer several social media packages to our dealers, as well as targeted social media advertisements to draw in potential customers. Do you hold meetings for your members? Each year we hold a dealer conference and trade show. In January 2020, we held our 50th anniversary show in Columbus, Ohio. In 2021, we will move the show to Las Vegas. By moving the show around, we feel more dealers get the opportunity to attend. During the show, our dealers have a chance to meet with all our vendor partners and talk about what they feel is important to their business. We also have several business seminars designed to share new ideas and empower our dealers. What’s new for members in 2020? In 2020, we have implemented several enhancements to our program. We are now offering a commercial truck volume bonus program, along with instant, “at the counter” rebates for our dealers on select tire lines, and we started our own quarterly publication, “In the Tread.” The publication is designed to inform our partners about upcoming promotions and any enhancements to our program, as well as providing important business information from industry-leading experts, giving our dealers more of what our they want and less of what they don’t.

POINT S TIRE & AUTO SERVICE Offered by: Tire Factory Inc. Website: joinpointstire.com

Who is eligible to participate? Any strong independent. Our cooperative, Point S USA, is made up of independently owned tire dealers. Owners benefit by buying from themselves through our co-op and receive additional benefits as a result. What kind of fees are involved to be a member of your group? No fees, unless decided upon by the owner membership.

New members do pay an “A-Share” to have voting rights and a capital contribution to support supplying their needs, but that’s it and it all comes back to them with a return on their investment. Do you offer “geo-fencing” for your members? Yes, we provide both traditional and digital support for our owners. That starts with “zone/DMA level” support on building the Point S brand, and Google AdWords campaigns that are created, targeted, and controlled within the owners’ specific market. We have a wide marketing suite of world-class tools and data for all dealers to leverage as they see fit. Do you help your members with tire rebates? We participate in most national tire rebate programs. We also look to our preferred partners for unique rebates, both instant and mail-in, that are exclusive to our Point S members. How do you help your members with social media advertising? We provide system-wide social media content support at no cost to our owners. That includes a monthly, Point S-branded calendar that has three to five posts per week. In addition, there are opportunities for stores to receive additional, individualized support through our marketing division at below market rates. Do you hold meetings for your members? We have an annual owners meeting where all owners, key staff and partners are invited to attend. These are well-attended destination locations that owners love, to learn, discuss, connect and reunite with other fellow owners. For all who can attend, it’s a highlight of their year. We also hold zone/DMA level meetings for owners in a specific, shared marketing area a couple times per year. What’s new for members in 2020? We just launched our robust ,Point S-proprietary All-Trac Platform. That includes a fullcustomer journey platform that provides our owners access to online scheduling, bay monitoring and employee workflow, communication tools (including custom and scheduled text and email), and customer retention and reputation management tools. We also just announced a customer experience improvement, moving from hard copy marketing posters to a groupwide digital experience. Each store will receive two, 43-inch vertical TVs that will automatically receive the most current promotions and in-store communications in a visually stunning way. ■

Air conditioning service

Tips to prepare for A/C repairs

R-1234YF REQUIRES CHANGES TO SCHEDULES, LABOR RATES AND TECHNICIAN PAY By

Joy Kopcha

s the calendar turns toward the warmer months, consumers are more likely to experience problems with the air conditioning systems in their vehicles. Before the busy season hits, let’s review some best practices. MTD turned to experts from Bosch Automotive Service Solutions Inc. and Denso Products and Services Americas Inc. for advice. They offered tips for tire dealers, managers, service advisors and the technicians performing the work.

TIME TO CERTIFY

Justin Fisette is a product marketing manager for Bosch who says “the big topic” in A/C repair surrounds the ongoing switch to R-1234yf refrigerant. Fisette says eight of the 10 top-selling vehicles in 2019 used R-1234yf. (The holdouts: the 2019 Nissan Rogue and 2019 Toyota Corolla.) Fisette says it’s essential that technicians are Section 609-certified, meaning they have taken a 90-minute class and passed the test to properly handle R-1234yf refrigerant. It’s a one-time certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and it costs about $25. “It’s a really minor investment that can save a shop a lot of time and heartache and money,” he says. There’s a steep fine for doing the work without the certification, and certification also ensures that stores can buy the refrigerant in bulk. As for equipment, Fisette says the switch to R-1234yf has brought about a new style of A/C machines that identify refrigerants and detect leaks to sniff out R-1234yf and R-134a. “The machine puts a 15% charge in the vehicle system and instructs the technician to go underneath the center vent in the cab of the vehicle and check for leaks.” Older leak detectors might not detect the newer refrigerant. The new leak detectors offer two benefits, Fisette says. The first comes in refrigerant cost savings, as R-1234yf is more expensive than R-134a. Detecting the leak can save a shop from putting $100 to $200 worth of refrigerant in a system, only to have it leak.

The second benefit boils down to safety, says Fisette. Even though R-1234yf isn’t combustible, it is mildly flammable. Finding the leak keeps refrigerant from seeping into the vehicle’s interior. Detecting a leak has added time to the typical A/C service job, as has an extra vacuum stage, and Fisette says tire dealers need to account for that. A R-134a service would normally take 20 to 30 minutes. With R-1234yf, it’s a 40- to 50-minute job. Dealers need to think about labor rates for consumers, pay for technicians, and how much time is scheduled for every A/C repair. The change in refrigerant also has led Bosch to introduce a tracer gas leak detector. The tracer gas is made of 95% nitrogen and 5% hydrogen. It’s better for the environment, and stores don’t have to charge so much to find a leak, says Fisette.

LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER

Steve Fett supervises Denso’s customer care technical group, and he also supports the company’s technical hotline. He says the service writer plays a key role in performing A/C repair jobs well. “They really need to listen to what the customer is saying,” says Fett. “You can get a lot of information out of that person. Is there a noise? When did it start not working? In a lot of cases, the end user comes in and says, ‘I need a compressor.’ They don’t know what they need.” Once the vehicle is in the bay, Fett says technicians need to focus on three things. Lubrication: Technicians need to know exactly how much oil is in the compressor. Fett says having too much, not enough, or contaminated oil are all problematic. If the compressor in a Mercedes has four ounces of oil in it, Fett knows the Mercedes replacement compressors come with four ounces of oil, too. But there’s also oil remaining in other components, perhaps another two ounces. That means the whole system now has six ounces, but only needs four. “It’s very possible you will shorten the life and have a premature

Justin Fisette from Bosch says more original equipment manufacturers are using R-1234yf refrigerant in their systems. As of early 2020, 29 OE brands had switched to the more environmentally friendly refrigerant.

failure of a compressor. Sometimes it can happen in 20 minutes. The compressor doesn’t like having liquid to compress. You have to do the math.” Denso has published a chart with the oil contained in each of its compressors. Look for A/C compressors on Denso’s website. Refrigerant ID: Whether technicians use their charging machine or a handheld tool, Fett says correctly identifying the refrigerant in a vehicle is important to keeping the shop’s A/C machine free of contamination. If the refrigerant shows it’s 50% air, it also helps a technician know there’s a leak. He recommends adding a $1 “refrigerant identification” fee onto A/C repair tickets to recoup the minimal costs. Flush or replace: Technicians often replace the compressor and are compelled to flush the system. Fett says as condensers have gotten smaller, so have the tubes. If there’s a compressor failure and the condenser hesitates, he recommends replacing the condenser over flushing it. “The condenser can get clogged easily. Flushing doesn’t work in many cases. If there’s a question of is it going to work, always go on the side of replacing it.” ■ MTD April 2020

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RETREADERS FEEL PRESSURE ON MANY FRONTS ‘WE BELIEVE RETREADING WILL HOLD ITS OWN’

Ann Neal

ntil daily life came to a near standstill to help stop the spread of COVID-19, many of the nation’s top retreaders were optimistic for 2020. In this year’s MTD Top 50 Retreaders survey, they cited pressures on many fronts, such as low-cost import tires, pricing, employee retention and the tendency of fleet operators to overlook retreading in their tire programs. Yet many expected to find ways to overcome the challenges and grow. Like all business leaders, retreaders will develop strategies to weather the economic consequences of the current COVID-19 pandemic. And MTD will cover their progress in the coming months as they shift from crisis response to recovery efforts. The following story, drawn from responses to the MTD Top 50 Retreaders survey conducted this past February, recounts industry activity in the last year.

ACQUISITIONS RECAP

Several retreaders have expanded into new markets via acquisitions. The most recent is the merger of Logan, Utah-based Jack’s Tire and Oil Inc., which at the time had 12 stores and five Michelin retread plants, with A&E Tire Inc., based in Denver, Colo. The deal was finalized on April 1. The new entity is No. 23 on MTD’s top retreaders list. It has 17 locations and six Michelin retread plants throughout Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona and California, and a combined annual revenue of $150 million. In January 2020, Pomp’s Tire Service

Also in CTD Top 50 Retreaders List....................... 36 Retread executive Q&A’s ..................40 OTR Tire Conference report..............48 AG Tire Talk: Precision agriculture..50 Commercially Viable..........................54

The first tires built at the retread plant in Tredroc Tire Services’ new super center in Allen Park, Mich., on Dec. 17, just a week after the plant was relocated to the facility.

Inc. bought 19 GCR Tires & Service (GCR) stores in nine states from Bridgestone Americas Inc. Pomp’s Vice President Paul Wochinske expects the purchase to “increase opportunities to service fleets with a complete tire program to include a consistent supply of retreads.” No. 4-ranked Pomp’s Tire gained two retread plants with its acquisition of Lincoln, Neb.-based Dillon Tire Inc. last June. The Green Bay, Wis.-based dealership has 17 retread plants. No. 6-ranked McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc. gained three GCR retread plants as well as 13 GCR stores in August 2019. The Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based dealership has 10 retread plants in total. Bauer Built Inc. purchased Allied Oil & Tire Co.’s tire business in April 2019. The transaction added seven new locations in five states and a retread plant. Durand,

Wis.-based Bauer Built holds the No. 11 spot on this year’s MTD Top 50 Retreaders list. The No. 1-ranked company in MTD’s current retreader rankings, Southern Tire Mart LLC, purchased six retread plants and 46 GCR Tires & Service stores from Bridgestone Americas Inc. in March 2019. The dealership operates 21 retread plants. John Boynton, who oversees operations for Southern Tire Mart, says the company has grown its retreading business even though demand for retreading has been relatively flat overall. “We have focused on finding opportunities to increase our retreading demand and are seeking out customers that understand and really value the retreading side of it.” Just because a fleet is using retreads doesn’t mean it is fully maximizing all the benefits of what retreading can bring them, MTD April 2020

BEYOND SERVICES AND PRODUCTS.

HIGH TECHNOLOGY FOR YOUR RETREADS.

info@vipal-usa.com Facebook: Vipal Rubber Corp

www.vipal-usa.com

To p 5 0 R e t r e a d e r s according to Boynton. “We’re working with them to say can we get another retread out of that trailer position, and can we extend the life of that casing just a little bit further by how we’re managing it.” He says the company’s greatest opportunities are in working with its core customers to grow their retreading business and finding ways to reduce turn times. “If retreading wasn’t a most cost-efficient way of running a tire program, it really wouldn’t exist for the most part today.” A retreading program takes a lot of work and effort between the dealer and fleet customer. “But when it’s done and done very well, it delivers fantastic results.” David Mickelson of No. 43-ranked Graham Tire Co. agrees. “Selling retreads takes more effort than selling a new tire but again can be more beneficial for all involved.” Mickelson, who is president of the company’s South Dakota and Nebraska locations, says Graham Tire is educating its customers about the benefits of retreading .

NEW AND RENOVATED PLANTS

In Toledo, Ohio, Best-One Tire Group’s new retread plant has capacity for about 200 medium truck tire retreads per day. That’s up from 88 retread tires per day when the plant began production in January 2020. By the middle of March, daily production had reached 132 retread tires per day and growing, according to Pete Glesing, president of Best-One’s commercial sales and operations. Jim Jones is Best One Tire Group’s operating partner for the plant, which is housed in a renovated building. No. 7-ranked Best One Tire Group, based in Monroe, Ind., has 18 retread plants. No. 22-ranked Tredroc Tire Services Inc. has invested more than $1.5 million in its retread facilities. One project involved remodeling a 31,000-square-foot building that contained a retread plant, which encompasses just over 17,000 square feet, and a warehouse in Wyoming, Mich. The project was completed in March 2019. The Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based dealership also renovated its warehouse and commercial store in Allen Park, Mich., to make room for its retread plant a short distance away. Now known as Tredroc’s Allen Park “super center,” the building houses the retread plant, distribution center and the commercial tire store, which offers light mechanical services, as well as tire sales.

The new Best-One Tire Group retread plant in Toledo, Ohio, began operating in January 2020 with capacity for about 200 medium truck tire retreads per day.

The approximately $1 million project was completed in the fourth quarter of 2019. In addition, Tredroc consolidated its retread plant in Romeoville, Ill., with another plant in the city of West Chicago, about 25 miles away. No. 19-ranked BestDrive LLC, which is owned by Continental Tire the Americas LLC, grew its business in large part by increasing production at its newest retread plant in Grande Prairie, Texas. An expansion at the BestDrive retread plant in Forest Park, Ga., is underway and is scheduled to be online this year. No. 27-ranked Valley Tire Co. Inc. built a 60,000-square-foot facility housing a warehouse and commercial store in 2019. The warehouse occupies 40,000 square feet. The commercial service center has six drive-through truck bays and four retail bays. Valley Tire’s retread plant is located at its headquarters in Charleroi, Pa. President Jim Stankiewicz says retreading has been steady. “OE is pretty stagnant so that means (fleets are) going to keep their trucks and maintain them, so retreading should get better.”

ROLE OF THE MAJORS

Retread manufacturers still play a huge role in the industry’s growth potential, according to Tredroc officials.“If they decide to raise rubber prices and lessen the price gap between retread and Tier 4 (products),

this could derail any growth. Additionally, there is still the threat of Chinese radial truck and bus (tire manufacturers) moving more operations to other Asia-Pacific countries.” Bob Majewski notes the majors are “buying up the retread market and helping dealers subsidize their sales. As independents, we don’t have the deep pockets.” Majewski is president of Sumerel Tire Service Inc. “We believe retreading will hold its own but low-cost Chinese tires are dropping in price,” says Majewski, adding that lower sales of new trucks in 2020 could mean lower prices for new tires. Sumerel Tire Service, the 51st largest retreader in the U.S., increased its retread sales by 11% and has installed more equipment to grow its wide-base tire business.

TIER 4 TIRES RETURN

Inexpensive, Tier 4 tires from Asia are slowly making their way back into the U.S. market, according to Sonny Simpson, manager director for BestDrive. “As this occurs, it is important that we, as a retread industry, continue to prove our value, helping fleets invest in the full life cycle of their tires.” Simpson says customers are continually realizing the value in a premium, retreadable products. “In many cases, investing in a premium tire casing delivers better bottom-line value for the fleet, versus purchasing inexpensive MTD April 2020

INDEPENDENT but never alone...

www.na.marangoni.com

To p 5 0 R e t r e a d e r s tires that do not deliver the same mileage or tire life.” Jim Osborne, president of McGriff Treading Co. Inc., also cited the influx of low-cost, off-shore truck tires in U.S. markets. “Bandag has offered lower-cost material this year that we can use to compete by offering a quality retread.” The Cullman, Ala.-based company, which holds the No. 18 spot on MTD’s list, has increased daily capacity at its two retread plants. Todd Coulter, executive vice president at No. 13-ranked Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc., likewise points to the impact of inexpensive new tires and the need to educate small to medium-size fleets about the advantages of a retreading program. “We have seen a steady decline in demand the past few years. January 2020 was no exception.” No. 9-ranked Service Tire Truck Centers Inc.’s business was up 5% in 2019. The company outperformed the overall retread and new tire market without adding new locations or big national account wins, according to CEO and President Walt Dealtrey. “Cheap foreign imports are declining so retreading will pick up some of those wheel positions. We continue to improve our retreading process so our product is in demand. If Washington passes an infrastructure bill, that will help the earthmover retreading business segment.” Gary Van Blaricom and Mike Garrett are owners of the Heartland Tire Group, which operates under the names Eastern Iowa Tire, Garrett Tires and Treads, Heartland Tires and Treads of Omaha, Heartland Tires and Treads of Kansas City, Davis County Tire and Weldon Tire. The midwest region’s poor farming economy has depressed demand for trucking services, they say. The uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 crisis is further weighing on local economies. “Originally, I believed that 2020 and maybe early 2021 will be a tough year in the tire business,” says Van Blaricom. “Multiple trucking companies went bankrupt in the past year. Freight rates were down, tonnage was down, and that certainly would inversely affect our business. And with this virus, everyone is scared. However, due to the COVID-19 virus and the hoarding that is taking place, we actually may have a better year than I originally anticipated.” Sales for Heartland Tire Group were up 5% in 2019, and expense reductions boosted profitability by 22%. “I believe

not find employees. His primary source for workers was Indeed, t he employ mentrelated search engine. “We went through so many people last year it was crazy,” he says. Then an employee told him about the State University of New York (SUNY) Educational Opportunity Center (EOC), which offers adults free educational programs to gain skills needed to find new or better employment. He H & H Industries has invested more than $350,000 into new contacted SUNY EOC OTR retread equipment so far in 2020. A solid tire buffer is in June 2019. By the shown. The company’s business was up in 2019. end of the year, he had that we’ll be very fortunate to finish the added five people who completed the year profit-wise to match 2019,” he says. SUNY EOC program to his payroll. “We’re in good shape because we are not Before partnering with SUNY EOC, it highly leveraged. But I believe dealers who was “like pulling teeth trying to find people are highly leveraged could be in serious and keep them happy,” says Beaudette. He jeopardy.” could not find people who needed jobs because the local employment rate was OTR IS A BRIGHT SPOT high. New hires would quit after as little OTR retreading volumes were up for No. as a week. 24-ranked H&H Industries Inc. “2019 He discovered the people in the SUNY numbers were up in all sectors and busiEOC program are prepared to be part of the workforce. “They show up on time, they work nesses are wanting to grow, which means they’re using more retreads,” says Noah 50 to 60 hours a week, and they are actually Hickman, president of the Oak Hill, Ohioreally happy to have a job,” says Beaudette. based company. Today, five of the 12 people in the “We invested close to $200,000 in our company’s retread plant are from the production line in 2019, and already in SUNY EOC program. Beaudette credits 2020, have invested over $350,000 in new an incentive plan that rewards employees OTR retread equipment. As always, we’re for meeting production targets for helping pushing the envelope on new technology to build camaraderie on his team. for our products and services and keeping The company’s retread plant was aiming customers as our top priority.” for 90 medium truck tire retreads per day Hickman notes that in 2019, H&H when the incentive program began a few Industries became the first OTR retread months ago. and repair facility to be accepted into Rema “We are now getting anywhere between Tip Top’s Global OTR Repair Accreditation 100 and 120 a day,” says Beaudette. Program as a certified partner. The company “The program gives them incentive also began manufacturing and marketing to keep working because at the end of a line of new solid tires in 2019, following the day they’re all making money if they two years of research and development. work as a team.” The plant also produces 30 light truck NEW APPROACH TO RECRUITMENT tire retreads per day and five skid steer In early 2019, Syracuse Retreaders LLC was tire retreads a day. producing 75 medium truck tire retreads Retreading volumes at the facility have a day. Vice President Dennis Beaudette Jr. increased about 25% to 30% year over year, was eager to boost production but could according to Beaudette. ■ MTD April 2020

To p 5 0 R e t r e a d e r s 2020 MTD Top 50 Retreaders in the U.S. 2020 rank

Company

Headquarters

Number of plants

LT tires per day

Truck tires per day

OTR tires per day

Industrial tires per day

Rubber per year (lbs. in millions)

Process

Total points 2020

Southern Tire Mart LLC

Columbia, Miss.

5,700

34.0

Bandag (precure)

19,970

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., dba Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Centers

Akron, Ohio

5,200

31.0

Goodyear (UniCircle, precure, mold cure)

18,200

Snider Tire Inc., dba Snider Fleet Solutions*

Greensboro, N.C.

200

3,300

22.0

Michelin (Pre-Mold)

11,890

Pomp’s Tire Service Inc.

Green Bay, Wis.

190

2,700

N/A

Bandag (precure)

9,773

Purcell Tire & Rubber Co.

Potosi, Mo.

132

803

142

14.1

Goodyear (UniCircle, procure, mold cure, Flex-cure), segmented mold cure, precision cut treads

9,567

McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc.*

WilkesBarre, Pa.

110

2,610

18.0

Bandag (precure, Continuum)

9,322

Best One Tire Group

Monroe, Ind.

2,408

16.6

Bandag (precure)

8,428

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC, dba GCR Tires & Service*

Nashville, Tenn.

2,180

14.2

Bandag (precure)

7,983

Service Tire Truck Centers Inc.

Bethlehem, Pa.

1,260

8.5

Michelin, Oliver

4,444

Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc., dba Love’s Truck Solutions LLC*

Oklahoma City, Okla.

1,250

N/A

Oliver

4,375

Bauer Built Inc., dba Bauer Built Tire

Durand, Wis.

1,100

8.5

Michelin (Pre-Mold, Custom Mold)

3,867

Earl W. Colvard Inc., dba Boulevard Tire Center

Deland, Fla.

1,057

6.1

Bandag (precure)

3,700

Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc.

Bend, Ore.

900

7.3

Precure and Ringtread

3,610

Parkhouse Tire Inc.

Bell Gardens, Calif.

1000

7.0

Bandag (precure)

3,551

T & W Tire LLC

Oklahoma City, Okla.

1000

7.0

Michelin (Pre-Mold, Custom Mold)

3,500

Bob Sumerel Tire Co.*

Erlanger, Ky.

980

5.5

Bandag (precure)

3,430

Atlanta Commercial Tire Inc.*

Forest Park, Ga.

880

4.9

Bandag (precure)

3,106

MTD April 2020

2020 rank

Company

Headquarters

Number of plants

LT tires per day

Truck tires per day

OTR tires per day

Industrial tires per day

Rubber per year (lbs. in millions)

Process

Total points 2020

McGriff Treading Co. Inc.

Cullman, Ala.

861

4.9

Bandag (precure)

3,048

Continental Tire the Americas LLC, dba BestDrive LLC

Fort Mill, S.C.

800

5.9

ContiLifeCycle

2,800

B.R. Retreading Inc.*

Glasgow, Ky.

3.5

Segmented radial molds, Marangoni (cut tread)

2,530

Custom Bandag Inc.*

Linden, N.J.

672

3.7

Bandag (precure)

2,515

Tredroc Tire Services Inc.

Elk Grove Village, Ill.

665

4.5

Bandag (precure)

2,334

Jackâ€™s Tire and Oil Management Co. Inc.

Logan, Utah

652

4.8

Michelin (Pre-Mold)

2,296

H & H Industries Inc.

Oak Hill, Ohio

4.8

Mold cure, sculpture, precure

2,070

New Holland Tire Inc.

Terre Hill, Pa.

450

2.7

Daeho/Elgi (precure), Bandamatic

2,067

Ziegler Tire & Supply Co.

Massillon, Ohio

550

4.2

Michelin (Pre-Mold, Custom Mold)

1,925

Valley Tire Co. Inc.

Charleroi, Pa.

500

3.1

Michelin (Pre-Mold)

1,818

Border Tire LLC

El Paso, Texas

500

2.8

Michelin, Oliver

1,750

Rochester, Monro Inc., dba Monro Commercial N.Y. Solutions*

425

2.0

Goodyear (UniCircle, precure), Oliver (precure), OTR sculpture computer cut tread

1,735

Community Tire Co.*

St. Louis, Mo.

120

2.5

Mold cure, segmented mold cure

1,689

Royal Tire Inc.

St. Cloud, Minn.

420

2.8

Bandag (precure, Continuum)

1,673

Parrish Tire Co.

WinstonSalem, N.C.

450

2.7

Bandag (precure)

1,660

Craft Tire Inc., dba Shrader Retreading

Uniontown, Pa.

2.5

Marangoni (Mammoth) and Cima computer cut tread

1,656

Sullivan Tire Co. Inc.

Norwell, Mass.

450

3.0

Bandag (precure)

1,626

RDH Tire and Retread Co.*

Cleveland, N.C.

4.5

Marangoni cut tread, mill cut tread

1,610

Colony Tire Corp.*

Edenton, N.C.

450

2.7

Michelin (Pre-Mold)

1,575

w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

To p 5 0 R e t r e a d e r s 2020 rank

Company

Headquarters

Number of plants

LT tires per day

Truck tires per day

OTR tires per day

Industrial tires per day

Rubber per year (lbs. in millions)

Process

Total points 2020

Pete’s Tire Barns Inc.

Orange, Mass.

400

3.0

Bandag (precure)

1,560

Redburn Tire Co.*

Phoenix, Ariz.

423

2.4

Bandag (precure)

1,530

Superior Tire Service Inc.

Salem, Ore.

325

3.4

Michelin (Pre-Mold), Oliver (Pre-Mold)

1,453

MTI Retreading Co. Inc.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

400

1.7

Michelin (Pre-Mold)

1,409

Gem City Tire Inc.*

Dayton, Ohio

351

2.0

Goodyear ( precure, UniCircle)

1,293

Commercial Tire Inc.

Meridian, Idaho

348

2.0

Bandag (precure)

1,249

Graham Tire Co.

Sioux Falls, S.D./Spencer, Iowa

350

2.8

Goodyear (precure, UniCircle)

1,225

Bergey’s Retread Technologies Inc.*

Franconia, Pa.

325

2.3

Marangoni (Ringtread precure), Continental ContiLifeCycle, Bergey’s Prima

1,139

Davenport, Heartland Tire Iowa Group, dba Eastern Iowa Tire Inc., Garrett Tires and Treads, Heartland Tires and Treads of Omaha, Heartland Tires and Treads of Kansas City, Davis County Tire, Weldon Tire

320

2.3

Bandag (precure)

1,120

Donald B. Rice Tire Frederick, Co. Inc., dba Rice Md. Retreading Inc.

300

2.1

Goodyear (precure/UniCircle), Acutread

1,110

Piedmont Truck Tires Inc.

Greensboro, N.C.

300

2.0

Continental (ContiLifeCycle)

1,070

Dorsey Tire Co. Inc.

Pooler, Ga.

303

1.3

Bandag

1,099

Trac Tire Services LLC*

Florence, Ky.

300

2.0

Goodyear

1,050

Daniels Tire Service Santa Fe Inc.* Springs, Calif.

273

2.4

Goodyear (UniCircle, precure)

1,005

Footnotes *-estimated; N/A – not available Here’s how the points are calculated: Each April, Modern Tire Dealer ranks the “Top 100 Retreaders in the U.S.” based on the average amount of tread rubber used to retread different types of tires. Twelve pounds of rubber, on average, are used to produce one light truck tire retread, while 24 pounds are used to produce one medium/heavy truck tire retread. An average of 324 pounds is used to build one OTR tire retread. MTD awards one point for every seven pounds of rubber used per retread. Each light truck tire retread equals 1.7 points, each truck tire retread equals 3.5 points, and each OTR retread equals 46 points. The point total does not include industrial tires. Numbers are rounded to the nearest point. See all Top 100 Retreaders at www.moderntiredealer.com under the “Research” tab.

MTD April 2020

Retread Q&A

RETREAD EXECS SOUND OFF ON THE MARKET BUT FIRST, SOME EYE-OPENING NUMBERS

Mike Manges

t was shaping up to be an interesting, action-packed year for United States-based retreaders long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent government actions have created a wave of uncertainty that didn’t exist even eight weeks ago. Before this unprecedented development, MTD reached out to the U.S. retreaded truck tire market share leaders — Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. (Bandag), Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Michelin North America Inc., Maragoni Tread North America, Continental Tire the Americas LLC and Vipal USA (see chart for their current positioning) — and posed the following three questions to their top retread executives: • What’s your take on the current state of the retread market as we prepare to enter the second quarter of the year? • What trends did you observe during the first quarter of 2020 and how did they impact your retread business? • What impact — if any — are tariffs and the ongoing trade tensions with China having on your retread business in the U.S.? We also posed several questions tailored to the companies’ individual initiatives and situations. Of the six, all responded —

2019 U.S. RETREADED TRUCK TIRE MARKET SHARE (BASED ON 14.5 MILLION UNITS)

Goodyear 24%

Michelin/Oliver 22.5%

Bridgestone (Bandag) 44%

Marangoni 5.5% Continental 2% Others 2%

Our 2020 January Facts Issue showed tread rubber manufacturers jockeyed for market share gains in 2019.

with the exception of Goodyear, which declined to participate.

BY THE NUMBERS

In its January 2020 Facts Issue, MTD published several revealing statistics about the U.S. retread market, showing growth in nearly all areas: • In 2019, an estimated 14.5 million medium truck tires were retreaded in the U.S. versus 14.2 million tires the previous year. • Retreaded truck tire sales in 2019 — without casings — totaled $2.4 billion, slightly up from $2.3 billion in 2018. • The average retread in 2019 cost $165.90, slightly up from $164.64 in 2018. • The average mold cure price last year was $165.07 versus $165.72 the previous year. • The average pre-cure price in 2019 amounted to $165.93, compared to $164.60 in 2018. • The average casing price in 2019 was $62.80 versus $57.46 in 2018. Average sales margins increased in 2019, as well — reaching 20% versus 17% in 2018. In 2019, MTD estimated that there were a total of 650 truck tire retread plants and 17 OTR tire retread plants in the U.S. And more retread plants have opened since the end of the year, which MTD Senior Editor Ann Neal discusses in her feature story in this edition of Commercial Tire Dealer (see page 30.)

WHAT ABOUT TARIFFS?

Tariffs continued to be a prime concern among retreaders in 2019 and into the new year. “The situation is very fluid, making it difficult to predict the future,” Eric Higgs, president, truck, bus and retread tires, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, told MTD. “In 2019, the implementation of tariffs caused somewhat of an unknown on what was to come,” says Clif Armstrong, Marangoni’s CEO and president. However, he believes that “the market has now had enough time to sort through the tariff implementation and how it affects not only the supply of low-cost Chinese imports, but also the overall commercial tire business.” Keep in mind that these statements were made weeks before the COVID-19 situation evolved into its current state. Executives also answered questions before restrictive government measures were imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. MTD April 2020

‘We are optimistic’

BRIDGESTONE’S HIGGS TALKS AUTONOMOUS TRUCKS, SEVERE SERVICE RETREADS, GCR AND MORE By

Mike Manges

hile maintaining the lion’s share of the United States retreaded truck tire market, Bridgestone-Bandag has had a busy couple of years. In addition to introducing new tread products for severe service applications, last year Bridgestone staged a 29-city roadshow, “Fleets We Depend On,” to educate trucking operations about the advantages of using retreads. In this interview, Eric Higgs, president, truck, bus and retread tires, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, discusses the company’s marketing efforts, how autonomous trucks could impact retreading, the Bandag network’s geographic coverage and more. MTD: What’s your take on the current state of the retread market as we prepare to enter the second quarter of the year? Higgs: At Bridgestone, we are optimistic about the retread market. There is a lot of opportunity in the retread category for 2020 and beyond, as the practice of retreading creates value for fleets of all sizes. Fleets today are becoming more sophisticated and are willing to invest in business practices that maximize their investment. We anticipate that the retread market will remain healthy as fleet owners evolve their business models. MTD: What trends did you observe during the first quarter of 2020 and how did they impact your retread business? Higgs: The environment is highly competitive and original equipment manufacturers, suppliers and tire manufacturers are all developing and delivering new solutions to create more value for customers. One key trend shaping the future of mobility, as well as impacting retreading, are autonomous vehicles. Bridgestone is committed to making mobility more efficient for fleets and we believe retreading will be incredibly valuable for the fleets of the future, which will utilize autonomous trucks. Without variations in driver behavior, tires on autonomous vehicles likely will wear more evenly, better protecting casings for retreading. These casings could conceivably last the entire life of an autonomous truck, when coupled with retreading. MTD: Bridgestone has introduced quite a few new, non-long haul Bandag retread products in recent years, including one for severe service applications and another for waste haul fleets. Do these products represent a new or renewed emphasis on niche applications? Higgs: At Bridgestone, our new product strategy is rooted in anticipating and meeting our customers’ needs. Waste fleets and severe service fleets are challenged to perform in some of the toughest applications in the trucking industry. With frequent stops along residential and commercial routes each day, tires equipping waste fleet trucks often experience w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

heat fatigue and faster wear. Punctures also can occur as these vehicles regularly drive through landfills. All of these factors can result in the removal of tires from a waste vehicle every three to six months, which can be costly. Retreading helps waste fleets maximize their tire investment. When it comes to severe service fleets, retreads can play a huge role in their overall tire management program. MTD: As the U.S. truck tire retread market share leader, are you satisfied with the Bandag network’s geographic coverage? Higgs: Bandag retreads are available through a large, far-reaching network of authorized dealers and retailers in the U.S. and Canada. We are constantly evaluating our distribution footprint to ensure we are fully leveraging our network to ensure fleet customers have access to the products they need, when they need them. MTD: Has the divestiture of certain GCR Tires & Service locations changed your retread strategy in any way? (Editor’s note: Bridgestone still owns and operates more than 70 GCR locations and 13 retread plants.) Higgs: Our strategy remains the same. We believe the practice of retreading creates immense value for fleets of all sizes and we are committed to ensuring customers have access to high-quality Bandag retreads. Our comprehensive retread distribution strategy encompasses our company-owned GCR locations, as well as our many authorized Bridgestone and Bandag dealer partners across the U.S. and Canada. MTD: Last year’s Bandag “Fleets We Depend On” roadshow (pictured above) was a first for Bridgestone. Did it move the needle in terms of increasing awareness about the benefits of retreading? Higgs: During the roadshow, fleets were offered the opportunity to learn about retreading and the Bandag process, specifically, through an interactive exhibit, including a plant tour at many roadshow locations. The Fleets We Depend On campaign will continue this year through new content that will further advance the education and understanding of the value of retreading for fleets of all sizes — but especially small to medium-sized fleets. Bridgestone will also offer a Bandag “roadshow to-go” concept with assets and visuals that dealers can use to conduct their own Bandag roadshow at a location of their choice. MTD: What impact — if any — are tariffs and ongoing trade tensions with China having on your retread business in the U.S.? Higgs: We continue to closely monitor the regulatory environment. The situation is very fluid, making it difficult to predict the future. “Our focus is on educating fleets of all sizes about the many advantages retreads offer, helping them understand that retreads are a smart business choice in any market condition,” he says. ■

ADVERTORIAL

Vredestein introduces Hypertrac Its first all-season tire for the U.S. and Canada

VREDESTEIN’S ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE RANGE WITH MARKET-LEADING WET PERFORMANCE OFFERS BIG MARGINS FOR DEALERS

redestein, one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers, has been synonymous with performance and quality since it was established in 1909 and has acquired an outstanding international reputation. Now Vredestein is strengthening its offering for North American tire dealers and consumers with the introduction of the ultra-high performance (AS) Hypertrac. Hypertrac has been tailor-made to provide superior performance across the wide range of climate conditions found throughout the United States and Canada – with particular emphasis on helping premium and luxury sedan owners navigate challenging wet surfaces with supreme confidence. “North America is a diverse country with varied climatic conditions and diverse consumers expecting different performances and utilities from their vehicles and tires,” says Abhishek Bisht, global head of new markets and channels, Apollo Tyres (Vredestein). “When we develop new tire lines for North America, we talk to the people who live there–the real people who drive on real roads, day in and day out. The result is an evolving range, that’s being tried, tested, and refined by North American roads.” “The Hypertrac represents Vredestein’s continued commitment to our North American dealer network,” says Bisht. “With the introduction of the Hypertrac, our dealers now have an option for drivers who are looking for an ultra-high performance, all-season tire with excellent wet surface performance. “The Vredestein brand presents the rare opportunity of a legacy tier- one brand that offers exceptional margins. A premium brand with such a rich lineage and history allows dealers to justify a strong price position, thus enabling them to make more margin”.

The new Hypertrac’s outstanding wet performance capabilities are enabled by a special tire contour designed for dynamic pressure distribution, as well as an optimized footprint. The Hypertrac also features a high-void tread pattern with precise groove positions for faster water evacuation, plus a special polymer blend ration that has been tuned for superior wet traction and gripping power. At the same time, when designing the Hypertrac, Vredestein recognized the need for agile, precise performance on dry roads. To meet this challenge, the tire boasts a highly engineered component structure, molded into a dynamic tread pack, to provide a strong balance of enhanced performance. It also features an advanced tread pattern with wide outer shoulders for consistent cornering response and a break-through compound that contains unique, carefully constructed resins. To give dealers optimal flexibility when it comes to meeting customers’ needs, Vredestein is making the Hypertrac available in a wide range of sizes, ranging from 17- to 20-inch rim diameters for vehicles like the Audi A6, RS5, BMW X3, M5, Ford Mustang, Infinity Q60 and Q70 and many others. In addition, the Hypertrac comes with a special 100-day Hypertrac Promise that underscores the premium level of quality and performance that both tire dealers and end users have come to expect from Vredestein. It joins Vredestein’s recently introduced product lines – the Quatrac Pro (UHP all-weather) and the Wintrac Pro (UHP winter) – which have achieved podium position in various tests conducted by The Tire Rack and Consumer Reports, as well as tests conducted throughout Europe. (The Vredestein brand also topped Consumer Reports’ August 2019 satisfaction survey, which Bisht says “is a testimony to the brand and quality of products that comes from the Vredestein stable.”) “Like our other tires, the new Hypertrac will fill an important position in the product screens of our North American tire dealers,” says Bisht. “The result of years of intensive research, development and testing, this tire will transform how drivers look at wet surface performance.” ■

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contact.us@apollovredestein.com www.vredestein.com

Retread Q&A

Retreading ‘key’ to Continental’s lifecycle approach BARNES DISCUSSES BESTDRIVE, RAMPING UP TREAD RUBBER PRODUCTION AND OTHER INITIATIVES By

Mike Manges

manufacturer cannot provide for the needs of fleets without a solid distribution network and cannot develop a solid distribution network without fleet business to support it,” says John Barnes, head of Continental’s ContiLifeCycle retreading for the Americas region. Continental continues to build out its ContiLifeCycle network of independent retreaders, as well as its BestDrive network, which includes a 100,000-square-foot retread “mega-plant’ near Dallas, Texas. In this interview, Barnes discusses BestDrive, plus the ramp-up of its tread rubber plant in Mount Vernon, Ill., in response to market demand and more. MTD: What’s your take on the current state of the retread market as we prepare to enter the second quarter of the year? Barnes: The market appears to be relatively flat, gaining in some areas while losing in others. There are no red flags or indications of a downturn. While we have some amount of optimism, we do not see any major growth for the North American retread market so far in 2020. MTD: What trends did you observe during the first quarter of 2020 and how did they impact your retread business? Barnes: Continental substantially outperformed the market in North America last year, leading to share of market growth. In the first quarter of 2020, neither the softening of the original equipment market — nor the tariffs on Chinese goods — has produced any noticeable effect on the retread market. So far this year, our dealers continue to experience growth, fueled in large part by the continued advance of our fleet solutions and life cycle approach, which combines new tires, retreads and digital

“Neither the softening of the original equipment market — nor the tariffs on Chinese goods — has produced any noticeable effect on the retread market,” says John Barnes, head of Continental’s ContiLifeCycle retreading business for the company’s Americas region.

tire monitoring solutions. Continental has a strong portfolio of tire products, as well as digital solutions that monitor and maximize the performance of the tires. Fleets can prove the value we offer and this is a large part of why we continue to exceed the market average. Retreading is key to the life cycle approach. Fleets are always interested in maximizing their investment in their new tires by using retreads. Continental’s commitment to matching the development of the best new tires with harmonized retreads — our “looks like new, runs like new” philosophy — delivers value for the complete life cycle of our products. MTD: How do you balance the needs and strategy of the Best Drive chain and its retread operations versus the needs and strategies of independently owned and operated ContiLifeCycle retreaders? Barnes: Our primary focus is to supply fleets with the services and products they need, where they need them. Whether it is a BestDrive location or an independent ContiLifeCycle retreader, they follow the same audited ContiLifeCycle retread process and commit to delivering the same level of service to our fleet customers. A manu-

facturer cannot provide for the needs of fleets without a solid distribution network and cannot develop a solid distribution network without fleet business to support it. Continental understands and addresses this from both sides. MTD: Last May, Continental told MTD that its Mount Vernon, Ill., plant was preparing for a 300% increase in the production of pre-cure tread rubber due to rapidly growing demand. Nearly one year later, has that production ramp-up occurred or is the ramp-up still in process? What is driving demand? Barnes: The ramp-up in Mount Vernon is on track and in line with driving demand. It is driven by multiple factors, the most significant of which is the growth we see in our retread business. We also transferred production of several popular U.S. retread patterns into Mount Vernon to increase speed to market and reduce transport times. MTD: What impact — if any — are tariffs and the ongoing trade war with China having on your retread business in the U.S.? Barnes: Last year, the import data shows that a significant volume of product was brought in from China before the tariffs went into effect. With the OE slowdown, plant capacities opened up worldwide. So far, the net effect is that there was little shift of demand from third-tier products to retreads. There is optimism that soon we will see demand starting to exceed supply in this segment, driving volume toward the retread industry. “Regardless, it’s important for fleets to calculate the true cost-per-mile of the tires they are buying,” says Barnes. “Investing in a premium tire designed for retreadability can often deliver a lower cost-per-mile than purchasing multiple, lower-cost products. “This was true before the tariffs and continues to be relevant.” ■ MTD April 2020

Forward movement

MARANGONI CONTINUES TO INVEST IN NETWORK, OPERATIONS, SAYS CEO By

Mike Manges

xpansion” and “investment” are two words that describe Marangoni Tread North America’s strategy. Marangoni expanded its network by three retreaders during 2019, including Pete’s Road Service, which has 10 outlets throughout southern California. The company also is making significant investments at its tread rubber plant in Madison, Tenn. And its dealers are investing in their own production capabilities. Marangoni CEO and President Clif Armstrong elaborates on all of the above in this interview. He also discusses how tariffs on low-cost truck tire imports have changed the way fleets look at tire maintenance. MTD: What’s your take on the current state of the retread market as we prepare to enter the second quarter of the year? Armstrong: The retread market in the U.S. is positive. In 2019, the implementation of tariffs caused somewhat of an unknown on what was to come. The market has now had enough time to sort through the tariff implementation and how it affects not only the supply of low-cost Chinese imports, but also the overall commercial tire business. MTD: What trends did you observe during the first quarter of 2020 and how did they impact your retread business? Armstrong: The most positive trend that has emerged for Marangoni is our dealer network is investing in equipment. This is a good sign that retreaders feel better about their commercial business as a whole, and their retread operations, in particular. Over the previous five years, most dealers did not feel confident enough to invest in equipment. Marangoni takes a holistic service approach to the entire retread shop of our dealers. We also are adding technical expertise and manpower to support dealer growth. MTD: Traditionally, Marangoni has taken a steady approach to expanding its North American network. In 2019 alone, Marangoni signed three retreaders: w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

“The market has now had enough time to sort through the tariff implementation,” says Marangoni CEO and President Clif Armstrong, who adds that fleets are even more focused on tires.

Pete’s Road Service in California; KCT Retreads, which will sell Marangoni products throughout Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma; and PRIDE Enterprises in Florida. Is Marangoni accelerating the pace at which it signs new retreaders, and if so, why? Armstrong: The additions to the Marangoni family of dealers happen for two reasons: the business values of the independent retreader match with the business values of Marangoni and independent retreaders have a strong desire to run their own business, their way, which fits the Marangoni model perfectly. At Marangoni, our goal is to broaden our reach through like-minded independent dealers while respecting our current distribution network. We do not have a set number of dealerships we target each year but continue to seek out opportunities throughout North America. Our philosophy is to make sure the partnership fits both businesses and that by working together, both businesses will find success in the partnership. MTD: Are there existing geographic gaps that you are seeking to fill, and if so, where are they?

Armstrong: Our dealer network growth is less about where, and more about who. Dealers who are independent and want to remain so and are passionate about the retread products they produce are good fits. Part of our process is working with the dealer and designing their programs to include market coverage discussions. MTD: In late-2018, Marangoni told MTD that it was planning to expand its tread rubber plant in Tennessee. Can you bring us up-to-speed on what’s happening at the plant and your near-term plans for it? What is driving increased demand? Armstrong: Marangoni is investing in our Tennessee plant. In early 2019, we started to assemble our new XL press. This press is capable of making Ringtread product up to 500 millimeters wide. The first, Madison-made wide-base Ringtread was built in October of 2019. This new press gives us great flexibility to meet the growing demand of not only the over-theroad, wide-base retread market, but also specialty markets, like waste trucks and construction. In addition, we have added capacity by installing four additional Alpha Ring presses. MTD: What impact — if any — are tariffs and ongoing trade tensions with China having on your retread business in the U.S.? Armstrong: As I see it, the most important thing that the tariff process offered retreading was visibility. The price of low-cost, Chinese commercial tires moved upward, and that helps our entire industry. When you look deeper, tariffs have helped fleets focus on better management of their tire assets. Installing a quality new tire program and following that with a quality retread and retread producer saves fleets money. “The tariffs have now shifted visibility away from low-cost new tire imports to (trucking fleets) taking control of their tire assets and developing a strong retread program,” he adds. ■

Retread Q&A

‘Always evaluating opportunities’ MICHELIN’S REMEC DISCUSSES MRT NETWORK EXPANSION, THE IMPACT OF TCI SELL-OFFS AND MORE By

Mike Manges

ichelin North America Inc. — which has 77 franchised Michelin Retread Technolog y (MRT) plants and 80 licensed Oliver retread plants throughout the United States and Canada — continues to expand its product portfolio and add to its network. This past October, Michelin rolled out its most fuel-efficient tire for long-haul applications and followed that with the introduction two products: one for regional and urban delivery applications and another for linehaul trailers. And the company recently added Denray Tire, a longtime, Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Michelin truck tire dealer as an MRT retreader. In this interview, Karl Remec, business model leader, North American region, Michelin, discusses opportunities to add more retreaders, plus other topics. MTD: What’s your take on the current state of the retread market as we prepare to enter the second quarter of the year? Remec: Thus far this year, the U.S./ Canadian retread market is a little softer than we had expected. The Canadian retread market is feeling a stronger negative impact from low-priced, imported new Asian tires. MTD: What trends did you observe during the first quarter of 2020 and how did they impact your retread business? Remec: U.S./Canadian fleet customers continue to recognize the economic and environmental benefits of retreading. Smaller fleets and owner-operators do not embrace retreading to the same degree. The cap and casing market is under pressure from low-priced, Asian imports. MTD: Michelin added another retreader, Denray Tire, to its network this past December. How many retreaders currently comprise Michelin’s network? Remec: There are 77 franchised Michelin

Michelin has 77 franchised Michelin Retread Technology plants and 80 licensed Oliver plants throughout North America. “We are always evaluating opportunities to improve our level of service,” says Karl Remec, business model leader, Michelin.

Retread Technology (MRT) plants and 80 licensed Oliver retread plants across North America. MTD: Are you planning to sign more retreaders in 2020? Are there geographic white spaces that you want to fill, and if so, where are they? Remec: We constantly strive to be the best service-providing retread network to the North American commercial transportation market. Our current geographic footprint allows us to do that and we are always evaluating opportunities to improve our level of service to the North American fleet customer. MTD: Are you satisfied with your network coverage at present? Remec: Our current geographic footprint allows us to provide coast-to-coast coverage for the North American commercial transportation market. Our Oliver and MRT retread networks continue to evolve to better serve both large national and smaller, local fleet customers. We will never stop looking for ways to improve and are always evaluating opportunities to raise our level of service to the North American commercial transportation market. MTD: Has the divestiture of Tire Centers

Inc. (TCi) locations over the past several years changed your retread strategy in any way? Remec: Our retread strategy is driven by providing the best level of service to fleet customers. Retreading is a critical service we offer towards helping fleets run more economically and sustainably. Our strategy is to continue to support and drive growth through both our Oliver and MRT networks by better serving both national and local fleet customers. Our MRT and Oliver networks are committed to helping their respective fleet customers operate as safely, economically and sustainably as possible. MTD: What impact — if any — are tariffs and ongoing trade tensions with China having on your retread business in the U.S.? Remec: Tariffs and trade tensions are impacting our business similarly to how they are impacting the wider U.S/Canadian retreading industry. “Low-priced, Asian new tire imports hurt the North American retread market, particularly the cap and casing portion of the market,” he says. ■ MTD April 2020

Room to grow VIPAL HAS AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET, INCLUDING BUILDING ITS COVERAGE AND SHARE By

Mike Manges

he United States is just one of 90 countries in which Borraches Vipal S/A operates. But it is an important market for the Brazilbased supplier of tread rubber, retreading equipment and other items. The company’s subsidiary, Vipal Rubber Corp., supplies tread rubber to more than 30 retreaders throughout the U.S., and several more in Canada and Puerto Rico. In this interview, Leandro Rigon, Vipal’s international business director, discusses Vipal’s plans — which he says are “big” and “ambitious” — for the North American tire market. This includes “strengthening our presence and market share,” he says.

North America “is the biggest retread market in the world, and we are committed to strengthening our presence and market share through delivering an outstanding product,” says Leandro Rigon, Vipal’s international business director.

for retreads. It is worth mentioning that this drop of imported tires from China is due to the current countervailing and MTD: What’s your take on the current antidumping tariffs. state of the retread market in North And finally, another trend that is not America as we prepare to enter the second measured in numbers and has an important quarter of the year? effect on our business is the optimism among our dealRigon: It has been a great start of the year for us. Winers. We can say they feel, in ter is always slow. However, general, optimistic about the in comparison with the first future of our industry, and this quarter of 2019, it has been affects directly their investreally good. The rest of the ment plans, especially in new year looks really promising. retreading equipment. MTD: What trends did you MTD: In 2018, it was observe during the first quarannounced that Vipal and ter of 2020 and how did they Marangoni were joining forces impact your business? and North and South America Rigon: We observed sev- “Our expansion plans would be an early focus of that eral macro trends, as gross involve geographies.” partnership. Can you update domestic product, employment us on the partnership? level, fed actions, commodities pricing, Rigon: Vipal has bought a major share and many others — and in general, the (Editor’s note: 51%) of Marangoni’s Amerieconomy — are performing well, and this can operations. Two of the major, global, is very important. However, a trend that independent retreading materials producers affects, in a more direct way, our industry are joining their expertise and technology, is the volume and prices of low-cost tires both on flat treads and Ringtreads, (to) offer imported from China. We have observed a great solution for the retread industry. a much lower volume of this product MTD: What are Vipal’s continued plans and we are confident that this potentially for the North American (U.S. and Canada) will lead to an increase in the demand markets? w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Rigon: Vipal has, without doubt, big and ambitious plans for the U.S. and Canada markets. This market is the biggest retread market in the world, and we are committed to strengthening our presence and market share through delivering an outstanding product and service at a very competitive price. Our expansion plans involve geographies. We opened a few years ago a warehouse in Los Angeles, our third in the U.S., and assigned resources to provide products and services to the west coast. Now we are suppling Vipal treads to very important companies, such as Pete’s Road Service, among many important others in this area. We also expect to expand our current dealer network, providing them with the latest in technology applied to retreads and finally throughout new lines of business, such as our new machinery division. Another strong pillar in our expansion plan is our compound division. We are currently supplying high performance rubber compounds to the U.S.’s largest OTR tire retreader, Purcell Tires & Rubber Co. MTD: What impact — if any — are tariffs and ongoing trade tensions with China having on your business in the U.S.? Rigon: As I mentioned before, we are confident that this will affect positively our industry, in general. ■

OTR Tire Conference

‘YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON A LOT OF THIS’

AI, TIRE/EQUIPMENT CONNECTIVITY AND MORE WILL IMPACT DEALERS By

Mike Manges

TR tire dealers should start planning for the future now, Bruce Besancon, vice president of OTR tire sales for Yokohama Tire Corp., said during the keynote presentation at the recent Tire Industry Association (TIA) Off-the-Road (OTR) Tire Conference. Quantum leaps in vehicle technology and increasingly sophisticated customer expectations are just two areas that will impact OTR tire dealers, according to Besancon, who shared the stage with Yokohama President Jeff Barna. Besancon urged dealers to keep an eye on the following: • Tire and equipment connectivity. “Who in here has a personal vehicle that doesn’t have a tire sensor?” he asked. • Autonomous mining vehicles. “We’ve been talking AVs in mining for quite some time,” he said. “In mining, as a whole, one of the highest-cost items is that driver.

“You better have a good IT department because it’s all moving digital,” Bruce Besancon, vice president of OTR tire sales for Yokohama Tire Corp., told attendees during the keynote address.

“We want someone to give us the bad news, when there’s bad news, and not worry about losing the business,” said panelist Lonnie Sullivan of Vulcan Materials Co. (at left end of table, with David Winn from Martin Marietta.) MTD Publisher Greg Smith moderated the well-attended “End User Panel Discussion.”

What happens if you eliminate the driver? Does that make (vehicle operation) safer?” • Artificial intelligence. “About 65% of companies in existence today say artificial intelligence is the way they will see success in the future,” he said. “AI is already at work” in personal vehicles, he told attendees. “Your car has lane change sensors and smart cruise control systems.” • The internet of things. “You better have a good IT department because it’s all moving digital,” he said. Blockchain technology, for example, “is now entering the mining realm. How payments get processed… will be (through) blockchain technology.” The internet of things will impact servicing tires and vehicles, as well. “As you walk up to a vehicle, will you be able to calibrate lug nut (torque) because the machine is ‘talking’ to you?”

• Green philosophies/practices. “This is going to fundamentally change how mines operate. Will customers, at some point, ask you, ‘What’s your sustainability plan? Are your service trucks going electric?’ In Europe, many times before you can even go on-site,” you have to demonstrate a high level of sustainability within your operation, he noted. • Workforce needs. “There are concerns about workers. Is (technology) going to displace workers? Will it push them into different roles? Will there be cultural resistance? Are we going to be employing robots? Have you thought of a robot going out on a service call? “Part of your role is moving our industry forward,” he told attendees. “Your future depends a lot on this.” MTD April 2020

Fountain Tire Ltd. was well-represented during the OTR Tire Conference. From left to right: Nelson Tonn, vice president of sales and mine service; Ben Miller, director of mining operations; Darren Chalifoux, director of OTR safety and equipment; Fountain Tire CEO Brent Hesje; and Gary Foley, director of store OTR operations, in front of a Stellar Industries service truck.

TRUE PARTNERS

What do customers want from their tire dealers more than anything else? A true business partnership, representatives from two OTR tire end users said during a panel discussion at the conference. Lonnie Sullivan, strategic sourcing manager, mobile equipment, for Vulcan Materials Co., said the tire dealers who service his employer “know what our expectations are.” Vulcan, which bills itself as the United States’ largest producer of construction aggregates, evaluates its dealers “on their ability to serve our plants, plus their financial strength, pricing and performance,” he noted. Working closely with its dealers, the company has established a comprehensive tire program that includes OTR tire data collection and performance tracking, tire maintenance best practices, site reviews and other functions designed to reduce operating costs. “The biggest piece is making sure our dealers work with the managers and other people at our plants,” said Sullivan. “We make sure we give our dealers access to our equipment when they need it.” Panelist David Winn told attendees w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

that his employer, Martin Marietta, which supplies aggregates, cement, asphalt and other materials, relies on its tire dealers “to make sure our tire investment is where it needs to be.” This includes quarterly fleet inspections and other preventive maintenance services. “Our dealers come out to our site and look at the roads” leading into and out of the locations, plus “all the other things that play into tire life. “When I look at a tire dealer, I want support,” he added. “When I call them, I don’t want the run-around. The guy who is selling the tire makes a big impact.” Sullivan agreed that candor is important. “We want someone who will give us the bad news, when there’s bad news, and not worry about losing the business,” he told attendees.

OTHER HOT TOPICS

OTR tire dealers also are grappling with how to attract younger employees. During another panel discussion, “The Next Generation of the OTR Industry,” J.P. Dowling, director of mining for CMC Tire, which has locations in Utah and Nevada, reported that only 25% of his company’s employee base is under the age of 30. His

fellow panelists shared similar numbers. “We’re about 20%” under the age of 30, said Eric Griffin, president of Indland Industrial Tire North, which is based in Hayward, Calif. Legislative issues also were highlighted during the conference. During a legislative update session, TIA CEO Dr. Roy Littlefield and Roy Littlefield IV, the association’s director of government affairs, covered tariffs, infrastructure spending and the always-controversial estate tax, in addition to other issues. “TIA does not believe that death is a taxable event,” said Roy Littlefield IV. “We’ll continue to fight for the estate tax repeal.” Also during the conference, motivational speakers Dave Rosenberg and Steve Gilliland shared words of wisdom with attendees. Don’t be afraid to hold employees accountable, Rosenberg said. “Accurately measure what they do. When you give people metrics, they tend to meet them. It gives you a gauge to let you know who your go-getters are.” Gilliland said there’s no substitute for preparation — in any endeavor. “When you prepare hard, you finish easy.” Next year’s OTR Tire Conference will take place Feb. 17-20 in Tucson, Ariz. ■

A G T i r e Ta l k

CAN TIRES ENHANCE PRECISION AGRICULTURE? THE ANSWER IS ‘YES’ – AND HERE’S WHY

Modern Tire Dealer has partnered with AG Tire Talk to provide answers to insightful questions that farm tire dealers have about farm tire technology. This is the 12th in an ongoing series, which is designed to help farm tire dealers better connect with their customers. A trending question, followed by an abridged version of the answers, will appear in our Commercial Tire Dealer section every other month. For complete answers, check out www.agtiretalk.com! PHOTO: ALLIANCE TIRE AMERICAS

QUESTION: How do you define precision agriculture, how do tires interact with precision applications and what is the impact on tire usage, buying criteria and future product development? NICK PHILLIPPI, national product manager, Alliance Tire Americas Inc.: Precision agriculture is all about using data to achieve exactness and is focused on optimizing all the inputs possible to optimize yield. As a tire manufacturer, we utilize an extraordinary amount of precision in designing, engineering, creating and testing our tires. But once they’re in the field, the only variable farmers can really optimize on their tires is inflation pressure. Fortunately, central tire inflation system technology helps tires become more of a precision input, because operating tires at the proper inflation pressure reduces soil compaction and

improves traction, fuel economy, slip, rolling resistance and tire life. The ability to adjust inflation pressure from the cab is as big a revolution as the ability to adjust fertilizer rates or seed population on the go. There’s also a less-direct connection between precision agriculture and tires. If we can get access to the amazing stream of data being collected by today’s equipment, it could help us further improve tire design. Connecting inflation pressure data from a tire pressure monitoring system chip and correlating it with the data on slip and speed from a tractor, we could collect a massive volume of valuable, straight-from-the-field insight into tire performance. With that insight, we could build and test new designs with different variables and make the best real-world decisions. Of course, just like farmers choose the right hybrids for a field and the precise fertilizer rates to maximize their yield potential, MTD April 2020

they can also choose the right tires for their operation. Selecting a tread design, ply rating/load index, construction and size can have significant impacts on how the tires, the machinery and even the crops themselves perform. DAVE PAULK, manager field technical services, BKT USA Inc.: Precision agriculture is the application of using the right amount of water, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides at the right time to increase crop yields and protect the land. These practices can reduce the amount of each used and ensure that it is put in the right spots in a field to maximize yields. Farmers can gain a better return on their investment by saving on fuel, water, fertilizer, and pesticide costs. Precision agriculture has been enhanced by using GPS and sensors to help find the right mix to get the most yield-per-acre of land. Emerging technologies include robots, self-driving/steering tractors, drones and satellite imagery, smartphone applications, machine learning and the internet of things. The agricultural tires chosen can be important. Maintaining correct air pressures for the equipment used can decrease soil compaction and help increase yields. Soil compaction decreases the efficiency of water and nutrient absorption to the roots of the plant. Soil compaction also limits root growth and decreases yields. By managing soil compaction, the practices of precision agriculture and no-till farming can be greatly enhanced by decreasing runoff. Increased flexion (IF) and very high flexion (VF) technologies used in agricultural tires can help with managing soil compaction, as well. An IF tire is designed to carry 20% more weight at the same air pressure as a standard tire. If air pressure can be dropped 20% and still carry the required weight, this would lessen the impact on the soil. A VF tire is designed to carry 40% more weight at the same air pressure as a standard tire. In this case, air pressure could be dropped 40% and carry the same weight as a standard tire. As agricultural equipment gets heavier and faster, tire technology must also improve to keep up with these advancements. The future will see more VF technology tires in a wide array of sizes and for a variety of applications. As farmers look for ways to decrease operating costs and improve profits, they will also have to look for ways to improve and protect their land. Tires can be viewed as another cost of doing business or as an investment to help them reach their goals. JIM ENYART, technical manager, CEAT Specialty Tires Inc.: Precision agriculture encompasses the utilization of the latest technologies to maximize production on individual fields. There are many components that contribute to maximizing production as well as returns. We start by reviewing each fields’ production history, including yields and quality, as well as weed and disease problems. Previous soil fertility information, along with fertilizer applications and herbicide programs and efficacy, need to be considered. Crop rotation, projected market prices or contracts, pH, soil fertility, previous weed and disease pressure are the main components that must be evaluated to make the best planting decisions. After you have identified the crop you are going to plant, you need to select the specific variety that works best for your conditions. w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

The need to maximize production and returns on each acre planted should include ag tire buying decisions. Soil compaction has detrimental effects on crop yields and needs to be managed as well as possible. The latest tire technologies include radial-constructed tires, as well as IF and VF technology advancements. All of these technologies enable a farmer to reduce compaction. If you can decrease inflation pressures, you are decreasing the compaction primarily by increasing tire footprint. HARM-HENDRIK LANGE, agriculture tires field engineer, Continental Agriculture North America: Precision agriculture has developed into a very wide field. In the beginning, it started with GPS steering systems and measuring and mapping yields, and it has become more and more complex over the past 20 years. Furthermore, fleet management systems have joined precision agriculture solutions, so not only is data collected about yield, fertilizer, seeds, and pesticide optimization, but many machine parameters also can be monitored. Fuel levels, fuel consumption per time/acre and even data which can lead to machine downtime — such as temperature, oil pressure, oil level and failure codes — can be analyzed by farmers, fleet owners or machine service partners. For precision agriculture, there are multiple possibilities where intelligent tires can improve safety, productivity and protect the environment by reducing future impact to the soil. Many of those possibilities reach their full potential by work-

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A G T i r e Ta l k

Use of sophisticated tools, such as yield maps, can show the impact of soil compaction and other factors on yield gains.

North America Inc.: Precision agriculture is very basically defined as satellite farming. It is the use of GPS and satellite imagery to manage machine routes, observe and treat crop problem areas, build crop and yield maps, and so much more. GREG W. GILLAND, business development and ag segment manager, Maxam Tire International: Precision agriculture From a tire value standpoint, I have successfully used downward is a management approach to farming operations based on force maps from high speed planters with overlaid yield maps. measuring, observing and actively handling all the possible In the image shown at the top of this page, this farmer allowed variables in crop farming. Much like the advent of VF technology, cattle to graze his fields in early spring every year. We discussed precision agriculture is incorporating every facet of technology the potential issues that soil compaction caused by cattle can have to revolutionize how agricultural equipment operates in the field on his overall yield. We blocked off one of his four fields from the to maximize the yield of crops to ensure greater grower profits. cattle, measured the downward force it takes to plant the seed Precision agriculture demands the complete and then at the end of the season, we captured integration of all the field and crop production TIRES HAVE ALWAYS INTERACTED and overlaid yield maps. With this information, intelligence that can be gathered, including crop I was able to show the impact of about a 9% WITH EACH FACET OF AGyields, terrain features, topography, organic yield gain as a result of less soil compaction. matter content, moisture levels and nitrogen Regarding tire testing and machine operator RICULTURE, FROM SPRING TILLAGE, levels. habits, we often tie Michelin GPS equipment SPRAYING AND PLANTING TO into the machine’s precision systems. This In many ways, tires are the last element to be incorporated into precision agriculture as enables us to gather road speed and distances, SUMMER SIDE DRESSING they are not an integral mechanical or electrical field speed and distances, pitch and sway of the APPLICATIONS AND BEYOND. component of the ag platform but rather part machine, stopping points, etc. of the vehicle chassis as a mounted component. Finally, as central tire inflation systems The key to successful implementation of tire technology in the continue to grow in popularity here in North America, I see field to maximize yields or influence precision agriculture lies nothing but upward momentum. Precision agriculture systems in the active adjustment of tire air pressure when dynamically can feed an incredible amount of data that will not only drive operating in the field or on the road. The tire’s air pressure not the machine, but also the artificial intelligence required to run all only carries the machine load but influences the size of the tire aspects for total efficiency in machine operation in all seasons. footprint, which has a direct impact on the ground contact pressure, resulting in greater or lower compaction. This ultimately SCOTT SLOAN, ag product manager/global LSW, Titan dictates the crop yield and the grower’s profits. International Inc.: I define precision agriculture as a farming For precision agriculture to truly meet the objective of improvmanagement system based on observation, measuring and ing growers’ yields, the equipment in operation would have to responding to the constant variability of various soils and crops fully integrate every aspect of the machine’s operation to include to optimize the efficiency of inputs like seed, herbicides and the tire impact. fertilizers to optimize crop yields, which will optimize the returns on those crops produced. DAVID GRADEN, operational market manager, Michelin Tires have always interacted with each facet of agriculture, ing together with solutions offered from agricultural machinery original equipment manufacturers.

MTD April 2020

from spring tillage, spraying and planting to summer side dressing applications and beyond. Each time a piece of equipment rolls across a field, it is having a major impact on the soil in those areas. Growers have been concerned with compaction issues long before GPS and the term precision agriculture ever came around. To me, the tire industry has been keeping pace with the ever-changing, wide variety of agricultural practices. The major change we have seen in the market is the sheer size of the tires themselves. Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the standard tire on a four-wheel-drive tractor was a 480/80R42 and then moved to the 480/80R46. At that time, one of the largest tire sizes was 710/70R38. Fast forward to today, a 480/80R50 is the standard rear tire on a MFWD and we are putting on LSW1400/30R46, which is currently the world’s largest ag tire, on four-wheel-drive tractors. As equipment has gotten larger, the capacity of the tires has needed to increase. There are two ways to minimize ground bearing pressure, which equates to compaction, and that is to physically increase the size of the tire itself or increase the size of the actual footprint on existing sizes. This is done by decreasing the inflation pressures of the current tires and in effect increasing the footprint, distributing the load across a larger area. NORBERTO HERBENER, OE applications engineer, Trelleborg Wheel Systems: Precision agriculture is the adoption of technology that increases the accuracy and reduces input needs. Basically, its objective is to increase the margin by increasing the yield and reducing the need for inputs. Tires have influence on several of these aspects as they are the link between the power of the equipment and how it’s transmitted to the ground. The correct set-up of the equipment includes setting the correct inflation pressure of the tires. This process is mandated by the type of tire technology or where the tire will be working, the load that the tire must carry and at what speed this load will be carried. The equipment manufacturer only releases tire sizes and configurations that “fit” their products. If the equipment is correctly ballasted, the first step to adjusting the tire inflation pressure is to weight the unit to the maximum load each tire must carry and at the desired speed. Using tire manufacturers’ manuals, we can extrapolate the correct inflation pressure for the tire with the load and speed data. This optimal inflation pressure will adjust the tire to supply to the largest footprint possible, reduce soil compaction and enhance grip. In the last few years, the trend has been for equipment manufacturers to develop larger units that are heavier and bigger, equipped with more monitoring and adjusting capabilities. Following this trend, the tire manufacturers have been stepping up to the plate by offering tires with higher load capacities and specific tread designs for different applications. Larger sizes and new compounds have been developed to address the needs and demands of farming operations that want tires with flexibility and durability. KEN BRODBECK, vice president of technology, Precision w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Inflation LLC: Today’s farm equipment utilizes GPS, variable rate planters, sprayers with individual row/section shut offs and self-adjusting combines. Tires are now coming into the 21st century with variable technology to match. Consider your new car or pickup. Chances are they have a tire pressure monitoring device on their digital display. Does your eight-tire, $500,000 tractor tell you individual tire pressure levels? Probably not. What if we not only could check tire pressure, but automatically adjust pressures for axle load, field vs. transport speeds and horsepower? This is where the industry is headed. Today, tires must be inflated for the worst-case condition. But what if the machine is carrying only half of the maximum weight? Think of grain carts, sprayer, planters or combines. In these conditions, the tires are over-inflated for the load on the tire. What if the tire/machine can sense the tire has only 50% or 70% of the maximum load? The pressure can be reduced to match the actual load or speed the tire is experiencing, thus optimizing the tire’s performance for traction, flotation, wear and fuel economy. Today, the machine operator must know the load and speed for the tire to set the proper inflation pressure. Soon, we will have smart tires and machines that will talk to each other and then adjust tire pressure levels for specific conditions, rather than the maximum pressure for the heaviest load and highest speed, with no driver input required. ■

A M es sa ge f ro m When this ends - AND IT WILL!... Games will be sold out Restaurants will have a long wait Kids will be glad to be back in school Everyone will happily be back at work Every other house will get TP'd And we'll all embrace and shake hands That will be a great day...

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Commercially Viable Continental launches ag tire app

Bridgestone expands regional lineup

Continental AG’s new Agriculture TireTech app features a pressure-load calculator that dealers and farmers can use to check the correct pressure level for their tires. The app also offers technical information about Continental’s ag tire portfolio, as well as a conversion table. Its lead calculator feature compares rolling circumference of Continental tires “and gives a recommendation if the chosen tires are applicable with the mechanical ratio of the tractor,” according to Continental officials. The app is now available for iOS and Android. CONTINENTAL TIRE THE AMERICAS LLC www.continental-truck.com

Bridgestone Americas Inc. has rolled out a new, all-position truck tire for regional applications that is designed to provide “optimal performance in wet weather conditions,” according to Bridgestone officials. The Bridgestone M704 features a deep, 20/32-inch tread for long wear life and a tread pattern designed for excellent wet traction. It also contains wide, flow-through tread grooves to expel water and other features. In addition, the tire boasts 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake certification. The Bridgestone M704 is now available in the United States and Canada in size 225/70R19.5, with an N speed rating. BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS INC www.bridgestoneamericas.com

Yokohama rolls out wide-base trailer tire Yokohama Tire Corp.’s new 114R ultra-wide-base, regional-haul trailer tire is designed for high-scrub applications and was introduced in size 455/50/22.5 during the first quarter of 2020. The SmartWay-verified product features a 16/32-inch tread depth for enhanced tread life, plus Yokohama’s Zero Degree Belt for a stable footprint and long, even wear. It also contains an advanced, cut and chipresistant compound, funnel-shaped step grooves, and other features. The new Yokohama 114R replaces the Yokohama RY407. YOKOHAMA TIRE CORP. www.yokohamatire.com

CMA adds sizes to Double Coin tires China Manufacturers Alliance LLC (CMA) has added sizes to its Double Coin FT115 and RSD3 mixed-service tires. The Double Coin FT115, a fuel-efficient tire that is part of Double Coin’s Opti-Green Series, is now available in the new 295/75R22.5 size. The FT115 has a load index of 144/141, and 14 PR (Load Range G). The Double Coin RSD3, a premium tire designed for all-season and severe winter conditions, is available in size 225/70R19.5. It has a load index of 128/126N, 14PR (Load Range G), and an N speed rating, according to CMA officials. CHINA MANUFACTURERS ALLIANCE LLC www.doublecointires.com

GRI develops eco-friendly solid tire Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd. (GRI) has developed an eco-friendly version of its high-performance Ultimate XT solid tire that contains carbon-neutral, renewable oil instead of petroleum-based oil. The tire features a wide-profile footprint and has the capability to run “on all surface conditions,” according to GRI officials. It is available in non-marking and clip-type configurations. GLOBAL RUBBER INDUSTRIES (PVT.) LTD. www.gritires.com

MTD April 2020

DSP Insight

Are you protecting your most valuable assets? By

Jeff Morgan

IMPROPER SOCIAL MEDIA USE CAN HURT YOUR REPUTATION AND BUSINESS

s a business owner, you understand the importance of database and send her a text message, which included information about her appearance — even what she was wearing that managing and protecting your tangible assets, such as day — and enthusiastically expressed his “approval” of her. (I your property, inventory, equipment and employees. However, I would argue that two of the greatest am being gentle in describing the content of his text messages.) assets that you rely upon have no direct tangible cost This individual also used an app that masked the source of or value. In fact, I would suggest they are invaluable as they are the text so it could not be traced. Naturally, the customer was very upset. She returned to the likely to have the greatest impact on your success I am referring to your business reputation and the relationships store to confront its manager. you have with your customers. He denied that he sent the text messages. He looked up the While these are your most powerful assets, they also are your number that the messages came from to see if it belonged to an most fragile. Because of this, it is vital that you protect them. employee. Nothing matched. She received more messages after she left the store. Unable to The speed of information that social media and smartphone work with the dealership to stop the unwanted messages, she is technology have created makes these assets even more fragile. We all know that an upset customer can go onto social media now pursuing legal action. and express his or her dissatisfaction for the world to see, even The sender of those text messages clearly crossed the line discouraging others from doing business with you. by using the customer’s personal information, which had been While this is a continuous concern, you can take proactive provided to the dealership for business purposes. steps to reduce the potential damage. While this may seem like an extreme situation, how often Ensuring that each customer is satisfied and happy before does this happen and not get reported? What other ways could leaving your store is a simple and effective step. an employee have used a customer’s personal information for his If that step is missed, focusing on quickly or her own purposes? making the situation right for the upset Maybe an employee could be reaching customer can help mitigate the damage. out to a customer to do some side work? IT IS ESSENTIAL TO CLEARLY SPELL (“Hey, if you want to bring your car to my However, if you think that reputational OUT EXPECTATIONS, PARAMETERS AND house, I can do that job for less and save damage caused by social media and other forms of instantaneous communication you a lot of money.”) POLICIES FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES. comes only from external sources, you can Stealing protected customer information for an employee’s personal gain is theft. be in for a very rude awakening. Too often, the behavior of your employees And it can hurt your company’s reputation — whether while using their smartphones or posting information and business. on platforms like Facebook and Twitter — can have an even more Another recent example comes from the world of social media. damaging effect on how your business is perceived. A technician who is very active on social media was impressed If there are not clearly spelled out expectations, parameters with a high-performance vehicle that a customer had dropped and policies regarding how your employees interact with these off at his store for basic scheduled maintenance. things, the reputation of your business and your relationship The store’s manager was not present at the time. with customers can suffer. The tech posted pictures of himself with the car, while in the Leaving it to each person’s “best judgement” can be disastrous. shop. He didn’t think it was a big deal. He had done it several Let me share a few examples. In the headlines recently there times before. Then he decided it would be fun to film himself doing burnouts was a situation where a female customer at a tire dealership was receiving harassing text messages from someone identifying with the vehicle in the store’s parking lot, which he also posted himself as a manager of the store she had just left. and forwarded. Among the pieces of personal information that the customer It did not take long for these posts to be liked, commented provided when she brought her vehicle to the location was her on and shared. Eventually, the vehicle owner saw the videos. To cell phone number. say he was upset is an understatement. When her vehicle was finished, she paid for the services and left. He brought the videos to the store manager’s attention. The Not too long after that, an individual from the store took it manager, who was caught off-guard, apologized and tried to upon himself to extract her cell phone number from the store’s explain that this behavior was the sole responsibility of the tech

MTD April 2020

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DSP Insight

Give your employees a path to follow by providing clarity on the usage of social media, smartphones and customer information.

and not representative of his business. In this case, the individual involved was easily identified. But the customer still decided not to do business with the store again. “Even if this one individual acted independently, why did others within the business let it happen?” he wondered. And he was justified in asking that question. He concluded that even if this person acted independently, the culture of the dealership must be one in which unprofessional behavior is accepted and maybe even encouraged. It should not have mattered if the manager was there or not. This violation of trust would not have happened in a place where a professional culture exists. These two examples, while different, demonstrate that if expectations are not clearly explained and enforced, an employee’s individual actions using social media and other technologies could do extreme harm to your business and its reputation in the community. You might be thinking that you know your employees well enough. You might be convinced that these things would never happen in your business. The reality is that they happen. It’s important to keep in mind that employees might not be aware of the damage that can be done as the result of inappropriate smartphone and social media use. That’s why it’s even more important to have clear expectations and policies in place regarding use of social media and smartphones, as well as the protection of personal customer information. Write these policies down. Have your human resource partners review them. Ask your employees sign off on them. Revisit them with your employees regularly. Some examples might include: Social media usage: Prohibit employees from making personal posts that disparage, threaten, or could otherwise harm the reputation of your business, its customers or fellow employees. Cellphone usage: Prohibit cell phone usage while operating a vehicle and equipment. Consider limiting where cell phones can

be used, including inside your service bays. This is as much for safety as anything else. Customer information: Prohibit the use of customer information for any activity outside of conducting normal business, including any personal use. Remember that any policy you enact is only as good as the employees who are held accountable to it. First, you need to set the example by following these policies yourself. Additionally, the penalties for violating any of these policies need to be strictly enforced. It must be made clear that any violation could lead to disciplinary action up to, and including, termination. You need to enforce disciplinary actions consistently and swiftly. You set the tone. Any policy violation that is ignored becomes accepted. Soon, others will feel that it is OK to ignore the policy, as well. That behavior will then become the norm. Unfortunately, at that point, enforcement becomes difficult. For example, if you try to enforce a policy with one employee when others have done the same thing with no disciplinary action, you set yourself up for claims of unfair work practices. To avoid that, simply stay consistent in enforcing your rules. You need to protect your dealership’s reputation and customer relationships as strongly as you protect any other asset. Making it clear to employees what is expected of them and what behaviors are unacceptable is a great step in the right direction. We all hope and expect that our employees will always do the right thing. Otherwise, you probably would not have hired them. But don’t leave it to chance. By providing clarity on expectations for usage of social media, smartphones and customer data, you are giving your employees a clear path to follow, which will help your company avoid the loss of the reputation and customer relationships you have worked so hard over many years to build. ■ Tire industry veteran Jeff Morgan is the executive director of Dealer Strategic Planning, the DSP Group. He can be reached at jeff.morgan@20dsp. com or (310-533-2576) See the website www.20DSP.com.

MTD April 2020

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Business Insight

Convenience is king PUT YOUR PRICES ONLINE – BUT DON’T BE THE CHEAPEST By

Dennis McCarron

oes any of the following sound familiar to you? “No one is going to put their credit card information on the internet” “Buying tires online is a hassle. You have to wait a week to even get the tires.” This is what tire buyers — and maybe even you — were saying years ago. All of that has changed. Today, more tire buyers than ever browse online first and an increasing number of them would like to pay for those tires before they schedule installation. Years ago, online retailers believed they could sell things super-cheap because they didn’t have to pay for a brick-andmortar building. As e-commerce has matured, hidden costs and the need for constant updates in technology have proven that it’s nearly as expensive to run e-tail as it is traditional retail. The “internet is cheaper” bubble has burst. What has taken its place? The desire for convenience. Convenience in 1970 was a catalog delivered to your front door. Convenience in 1980 was a huge mall where every store you could imagine was housed in the same building. Convenience in the late-1990s was access to the world through blazing, high-speed DSL lines. Convenience today? Doing things on your schedule, when it’s easy. And convenience never comes cheap. A regular synthetic oil change at a typical auto service center or tire store might cost $50 and could take an hour or more to complete. At a quick lube? Same oil and same filter but the job is done in 20 minutes — and many times, for more money. I am here to convince you to put your tire prices online and to not be the cheapest. I have met many dealers who are hesitant to put their prices online for fear of being shopped. This could happen. But by not putting your prices online, you don’t exist online. If you don’t show up when a customer goes online to compare pricing, you’re not even in the game. It’s better to lose a handful of super cost-conscious consumers than to not even get a shot at servicing a bigger group. Your online prices need to be competitive. I’m sure you can find at least one tire line that will enable you to hang with bigger operations, price-wise. But don’t get caught up in matching everyone’s cheapest price.

It’s a fool’s errand. There will always be a customer or a group of customers who will demand the “cheapest” thing. And that’s OK. Focus on what you’re offering. Make sure you craft your online message to be one of convenience, such as ‘Tires installed in under an hour with appointment.’ Offer priority service for online appointments. Give customers the option of booking their appointments as early as 7 a.m. or as late as 5 p.m. Whatever the specific message is, that’s up to you. But make sure you use a bullhorn to blast out the proclamation that your business is all about convenience. “Convenience” is the natural counterproposal to “cheap.” A customer’s time is worth a lot, so they are usually willing to trade for it by paying higher prices. Now here’s the hard part: You have to back up your online claims. Can your employees handle a priority appointment when your dealership is getting slammed with walk-ins? What if the customer decides to change their mind on the brand of tire they chose as they are handing the keys over? Does your team know how to change gears, and more importantly, do they know where that extra gear is when things get really crazy? That takes a specific attitude, and it takes real training and education. The employee must bring to the table the instinct that they are there to serve others and make them happy — and that challenges are just opportunities to show how good they really are. The training part requires that you, as the dealership’s owner, invest in the right tools to do the job. And you have to understand shop processes, too. For instance, do you know that the most time-consuming thing your employee does on the tire changer is airing it up? If you figure out how to air tires up off the machine, you can greatly reduce installation time. Lastly, you need to develop good, formal training on processes, problem solving and critical thinking for your team. A lot of customers will happily pay for convenience. I encourage you to seize this segment. But you must do so in the right way and back up your claims with a good staff and an excellent game plan, each and every day. ■

BY NOT PUTTING YOUR PRICES ONLINE, YOU DON’T EXIST ONLINE.

Dennis McCarron is a partner at Cardinal Brokers, a leading broker in the tire and automotive industry (www.cardinalbrokers.com). To contact McCarron, email him at dennis@cardinalbrokers.com.

MTD April 2020

Mergers and Acquisitions

Examining the hierarchy of value WHERE DOES YOUR DEALERSHIP FIT? By

Michael McGregor

run across a lot of 50-year-old tire dealerships that run a mix of to its business model. Here’s an example of recent market activity impacting commercial tire and specialty tire wholesale segment businesses, like the retail tire dealership that opened a warehouse values. to deliver tires to its stores and then started wholesaling to get After more than five years of investment, Palladium Equity more volume, better pricing, and more cash profit. Or the tire distributor that opened a commercial tire Partners LLC sold Raben Tire Co. to Goodyear Tire & Rubber store at its warehouse to serve local commercial contractors or Co. in a deal that was announced this past December. Goodyear, government vehicles. in turn, has shuttered Raben’s specialty tire wholesale division. And how about the commercial tire dealership that has a Neither of these are particularly positive developments when handful of retail stores, a retread plant and maybe does some analyzing commercial tire and specialty tire wholesaler values, right? wholesaling on the side? It’s hard to be good at one thing in business, let alone several. How these businesses got this way is always the same: the owners And rest assured there are national and regional competitors that saw a low-risk opportunity to make money by leveraging what are focusing on being the best at just one of any of the three or they already were doing in the same geography. four businesses you might be in. In other words, they saw a need and filled it. Enhancing the value of your dealership may IT’S HARD TO BE GOOD The owners of these operations are almost involve repositioning and rationalizing your AT ONE THING IN BUSINESS, always comfortable with what they have built. business by fixing, selling or closing unprofitable But an outsider might look at what they’ve built business lines and re-investing in higher value ones. LET ALONE SEVERAL. at some point and go, “Huh?” So if you’re a multi-store tire retailer with While these owners were building a cash machine that worked an inventory-heavy wholesale business staffed with people and for them, they also built an operation comprised of business drivers and are losing $200,000 a year, shut it down, sell off the segments that have differing values all their own. inventory and invest in your retail stores. The chart below represents the relative market value of the Your overall business value will improve. different segments that you’ll see in the lower middle market of Focus on what you can be great at. At a minimum, invest in better financial reporting and disciplined cost accounting to privately held, U.S.-based tire businesses. accurately measure your varied businesses so everyone can see It doesn’t apply to large public companies like Monro Inc. or tire distributors the size of American Tire Distributors Inc. or Tire where the value is. This will help you capture more value for Rack Inc., or even regional, independently owned and operated yourself and not leave it to others. ■ commercial tire powerhouses. Once you reach a certain size and scale, you’re in a whole different category of value. Michael McGregor is a partner at Focus Investment Banking LLC A business segment’s place in the hierarchy of value is deter(focusbankers.com/automotive/tire-and-service). He advises and mined by a mix of things like profitability and margins, positive assists multi-location tire dealers on mergers and acquisitions. For more information, contact him at michael.mcgregor@focusbankers.com. or negative long-term trends, recent market activity and threats

Hierarchy of value 2020

EBITDA%

Urban-suburban retail

Gross margins

Rural retail

Market activity/recent deals

50% retail/50% commercial

Long-term trends

Specialty tire wholesale

Threat from disruption

Franchise retail

Technology

100% commercial

Scalability

Commercial/wholesale

Substitute business models

Passenger/LT tire wholesale

Cheaper alternatives

Truck tire retreading MTD April 2020

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Business Insight

Employees not hitting the mark? MAKE SURE YOU’RE SETTING THE RIGHT G.O.A.L.S. By

Mike Townsend

n the March 2020 edition of Modern Tire Dealer, Mike Townsend discussed how clearly communicated expectations can create a culture of accountability at your business. In his article — the final installment in a five-part series about steps you can take to build the best possible team at your dealership — Townsend discusses how to set goals that will generate positive results.

people focus too much time and energy on lag measurements instead of developing employees through stronger lead measurements and activities. To achieve great results, focus on the “lead,” not the “lag.” L, as in leading others well. “My team is my fault,” I once heard the president of a seven-store retail tire chain say during a debrief after a leadership training conference. This is so true. “How am I doing?” my client’s assistant manager once asked. You must understand the people whom you are leading. I responded, “How do you think you are improving?” Peoples’ expectations and motivations are different. Understand He had no answer but asked again, while emphasizing that how to get people to work harder because they want to, rather he could take the feedback. than because they have to. Have you been in this situation before? S, as in set smart goals. A “smart goal” is one that is specific, Here lies one of the biggest challenges when trying to get your measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. employees to buy into your vision in a way that is profitable and The most common mistake I see is that retail tire store owners fail to expect great performance from their employees after builds your brand. There are several reasons why businesses don’t achieve the setting attainable goals. results they desperately want and/or need. When working with employees to set attainable goals, it should almost always be a conversation that asks these questions: “What To achieve results, we first must have G.O.A.L.S: do you need from me to agree to this goal?” “Do you need me to invest in more training?” G, as in great. The goal must be a great. Many years ago, I remember my Sunday Many times, the employee is afraid to School teacher, Zig Ziglar, saying, “If you ask for extra support. Maybe you need to ALWAYS MAKE SURE EMPLOYEES aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” proactively provide a proven method of KNOW WHAT THEY ARE BEING Remember that a good goal is not as good as sales behavior improvement or technical great and good is almost always the enemy training to help the employee attain a new CHALLENGED TO ACCOMPLISH. of great. level of proficiency? Always ask questions. O, as in opportunities: The person who is being challenged to achieve the goal must And always make sure employees know have the best support, training and leadership in order to produce what they are being challenged to accomplish. This is sometimes results. difficult because most people can only focus on two to three areas of improvement or results at a time. When someone is being led by a servant leader who leads by Furthermore, employees are sometimes conditioned to hold example, he or she will spend the extra effort needed. Furthermore, when things are difficult — and they most back. I recently had a group of people in a meeting and asked all 60 often are — that person will be more willing to implement the of them to raise their hands as high as they could. They complied. personal changes that are needed to attain the objective that they I then asked if they could raise their hands a little higher. have agreed to. Everyone in the room raised them by an extra three or four inches. A, as in activity. Let’s face it: behaviors and activity must be People are conditioned to hold back, but when they are chalchanged for most people to achieve a great goal. To achieve great lenged, they will rise to the occasion, especially if their leader is results, we must stay focused on the “lead” measurements, and one who is worth following. ■ not dwell on what we call “lag” measurements. By definition, lead measurements are things that impact Mike Townsend is owner of Townsend Strategies, a sales and leadership training sales, like how well your employees engage with customers, how and marketing firm. He has 30 years of sales experience, 13 of them in the tire industry. As a Six Sigma black belt and professional trainer, Townsend says he “has efficiently they manage their time and the things they are doing witnessed every scenario and heard every objection in the retail tire environment to improve their sales skills. across every state in the U.S.” For more information, call (865) 318-4588 or A lag measurement, in short, is something that has already (800) 319-8552, or email Townsend at mike@townsendstrategies.com happened and cannot be changed, like a past sales report. Most

MTD April 2020

All New

European Notebook

What’s in a label? MAJOR TIRE LABEL REDESIGN IN EUROPE IS ON THE WAY By

John Stone

The label on tires sold in Europe is going to look different in the future.

t has now been seven years since the latest changes in European tire label legislation came into effect. This past December, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union decided to confirm the next stage of the label’s progressive development, which will be introduced in May 2021. At the same time, conditions of the labeling agreement require a further review of regulations by June 2025. I have looked into this latest development, which effectively reduces the tire label grades to just the A, B, C, D and E categories and eliminates the current lower grades of F and G. Upon closer inspection, it is interesting to note that the revised E category is the same as the previous F category and the D rating equates to a zero grade on the current passenger car label. In my opinion, this change is just a redistribution of the previous grades. The latest rules of the advanced tire label rating system also include reinforced market surveillance and penalties that are designed to improve compliance and stronger enforcement of a tire registration. I have also heard that there is a future possibility that incentives to buy A-rated tires will be introduced. In addition, there will be an obligation to report label information to national authorities in order to create improved product visibility to customers. And the design of the European tire label is also going to change with the new version being re-tooled along the lines of the current European energy label. At the top of the label there will be an additional, built-in QR code. Rolling resistance/fuel consumption and wet grip performance information will remain on the main part of the label, but with redesigned icons. The pass-by noise section of the label has been redesigned in order to represent

Retail tire stores will be armed with even more tire safety information.

the sound level with a letter rating. But the decibel value remains the same. At the same time, the ice grip identifier area has also undergone a design change. Finally, a new graphic logo has been added to represent results of the forthcoming abrasion test. As we start a new year, it will be interesting to see how tire market players throughout Europe react to the changes,

‘THE IMPACT OF LABELS ON TIRE SALES REMAINS TO BE SEEN.’ which, in my opinion, can only further enhance the safety level of new tires. I have spoken with a number of people in the industry, including manufacturers, distributors and retail tire stores. Everyone with whom I have talked agrees that the design changes are justified and the new rating scores have been well-received. Looking at this new development from a manufacturing point of view, I believe it puts even more pressure on

the leading brands to make their tires increasingly efficient. Tire distributors also could start to look even more carefully at which tires they want to distribute and retail tire stores will be armed with even more tire safety information when trying to sell a particular brand. But how does the tire buyer feel? There is still a misguided belief that you should pay as little as possible for new tires, especially among drivers who own older cars. However, I have noticed a more encouraging attitude from owners of new vehicles who want their shiny cars to look attractive and sporty. These consumers are more likely to invest in a more expensive major brand, with many safety aspects as possible. At the end of the day, the impact of labels on tire sales remains to be seen. ■ John Stone has been working within the global tire industry for the past 29 years. In 2004 he launched his own consulting company, Sapphire Media Service, which caters to business media clients around the globe. Stone also writes for tire and automotive-related publications in Europe, South Africa and Asia.

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Focus on Dealers

Second time’s the charm! COUPLE FULFILLS ‘CALLING’ BY OPENING NEW DEALERSHIP By

Mike Manges

tarting one tire dealership from scratch is tough enough. Imagine starting a second one — after sitting on the sidelines for five years! Steve and Cindy Moeller can tell you all about it. Their single-location dealership in the small town of Flatonia, Texas, Steve’s Station, which opened in June 2018, is doing great business. But it might never have happened had it not been for a case of “homesickness,” according to Steve.

BUSINESS BOOMERANG

Like many second-generation tire dealers, Steve, now 58 years old, grew up in the auto repair business. “My Dad, Elton Moeller, started with a Mobil gas station in 1961,” he says. “I started out pumping gas and washing cars for him.” In the late 1960s, seeing new revenue opportunities, Elton started to focus more on auto service and tires and less on selling gas. He and his wife, Henrietta, ran the business until 2003, when they sold it to Steve and Cindy. Taking it from there, Steve and Cindy added wheel alignments and undercar service “to help promote tire sales,” he says. But after 10 years, the long hours began to take their toll. Steve was feeling burned-out. After discussing the matter with Cindy, they sold the dealership and he went to work as a salesman for a tire equipment distributor. He hit the road for his new employer, visiting tire dealerships across Texas. After several years, Steve says he began to feel “homesick. I kept thinking about what my parents had created and I wanted to bring it back.” He describes the feeling as a “calling.” He and Cindy decided to sell tires again. They tried to buy their old store but the deal fell through at the last minute. “We then decided to find a decent property, put up a new building and start fresh,” he says. His brother happened to own some land near Interstate 10, a major highway that stretches from Florida to California and cuts through the southern part of Texas. “We bit the bullet, bought the land, put up a new building, bought some equipment and said, ‘We’re doing this.’” It didn’t take long for his old customers to find the new facility. “We had a trusted name in the community.” And its location helped attract new customers. “Before, when we were downtown, we relied almost 100% on local business,” says Steve. “Where we are now, people drive in off the intestate and we can help them because we’re right there.”

‘CALLED TO BE SERVANTS’

Steve’s Station is a small operation that up until recently, consisted of three people: Steve, Cindy and an auto service technician. The tech left, and at press time, Steve and Cindy were running

Steve and Cindy Moeller started Steve’s Station in June 2018 after a five-year absence from selling tires. They don’t regret selling their original business. “Everything has worked out well,” he says. “I’m glad that God gave us the opportunity.”

the whole operation, with Cindy working the sales counter and writing up service orders and Steve turning wrenches in the service bay. “We do everything except transmissions and engine overhauls,” he says. “We focus a lot on undercar service — suspensions, brakes and alignments. We also do oil changes, coolant flushes — all the usual service work.” They carry three brands — Goodyear, Kelly and Cooper — “but we’ll sell whatever the customer requests.” (Steve’s Station is a member of K&M Tire’s Mr. Tire group, which gives it access to a wide range of brands, plus frequent deliveries.) Business has been so brisk that Steve says, “I could hire two more technicians.” In the meantime, he and Cindy have plenty of work to keep them busy. Starting a new dealership from scratch — in their mid-50s — was extremely challenging, according to Steve. “I had a good job that was very rewarding. We weren’t in debt. Everything was great. But I felt like I had to do this. “It was difficult, but I felt like we made the right decision. I’m a happier person and my wife is happier and we’re just tickled to do what we’re doing. I’m glad that God gave us the opportunity to get back in it.” A devout Christian, Steve believes that tire dealerships and auto service repair shops serve a higher purpose. “We’re not all called to be preachers, but we’re all called to be servants. And your business is somewhat of a ministry because you serve people. If do that, you will be rewarded. We want to make a living. But we feel that our main calling is to help others.” ■ MTD April 2020

Nominate a Candidate for MTD’s 28th Tire Dealer of the Year Award

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS TIRE INDUSTRY AWARD!

Established in 1993, Modern Tire Dealer’s Tire Dealer of the Year Award is the oldest and most prestigious honor of its kind. Each year, Tire Dealer of the Year candidates are evaluated in five categories:

1. BUSINESS SUCCESS 2. MARKETING SKILLS 3. MANAGEMENT SKILLS 4. INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE 5. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Do you know an independent tire dealer who excels in these areas? Nominate him or her today! I am very honored and humbled at being named Tire Dealer of the Year by MTD. This award is as much about our great team as it is about me. Our success at McCarthy Tire Service is due to their hard work and dedication.” – John McCarthy Jr., McCarthy Tire Service Inc. and 2019 Tire Dealer of the Year Award winner

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS MAY 29, 2020.

In addition to the recognition of his or her peers – and the tire industry – the winner will be featured in the September 2020 edition of Modern Tire Dealer and online. Plus, MTD will make a cash donation to the charity of the award winner’s choice.

DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO RECOGNIZE AN OUTSTANDING TIRE DEALER! TO NOMINATE, GO TO:

MTD01-19902.20

https://www.moderntiredealer.com/tiredealeroftheyear For more information, contact MTD Editor Mike Manges at mike.manges@bobit.com

Focus on Dealers

Point S celebrates a ‘record year’ GROUP SEES POTENTIAL IN LES SCHWAB SALE By

Joy Kopcha

ineteen new U.S. stores started flying the Point S banner in 2019, and they helped the group increase its sales by 10% for the second year in a row. Clint Young, chief operating officer for Point S, says 2019 “was our most successful year of new-store adds.” Fourteen owners operate the 19 new stores, and they helped the cooperative expand into three new states — Texas, Arkansas and Kentucky — and also secure Louisiana, where a dealer with three stores sold his business, but helped recruit two others in his market join the group.. The Point S USA network — which is operated by Tire Factory Inc. — includes 224 stores in all. Owners and managers from many of those stores gathered in February for the group’s annual owners meeting in San Diego, Calif. It was one of the organization’s largest meetings, with more than 500 attendees, including its vendors who participated in the trade show. “2019 was a record year, and we should plan on breaking it again this year,” Walter Lybeck, CEO of Point S USA, told dealers in his opening remarks. The larger meeting is just one sign of the group’s interest in growing.

Walter Lybeck, CEO of Point S USA, told the meeting’s 500plus attendees that he expects the group’s dealers to top their record results from last year in 2020.

THE LES SCHWAB EFFECT

With its headquarters in Portland, Ore., Tire Factory Inc. and its dealers, who mostly operate as Point S Tire & Auto Service locations, have long competed with their fellow Oregon-born neighbor, Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc. The news of the possible sale of the nation’s fifth-largest independent tire dealer is a big point of interest for Point S dealers. Lybeck admits that “Les Schwab being for sale creates uncertainty. That means employees of Les Schwab are uncertain. That means there are opportunities for independents to find quality employees, because Les Schwab is a fantastic employer, a great company. “Potentially, managers of Les Schwab (locations) could want to buy a store. There’s potential there. “We know there’s a group of independent Les Schwab dealers. We would love for them to join our group. We think they’d be a great fit. Not every single one of them would match because some of them compete with our current members, but most would be a pretty good fit.” According to MTD data, 57 independent dealers operate Les Schwab locations. Changes at Les Schwab in 2019 already have had a big effect on Point S dealers. Up until last year, Les Schwab had an exclusive, multi-state territory with Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. That deal effectively locked out other tire dealers from selling Toyo-branded products in the northwest corner of the U.S., and on Jan. 1, 2019, that deal was no longer in effect.

Three generations of the Gehrke family were collecting freebies from vendors during the Point S trade show to take back to the team at Hermiston Point S in Hermiston, Ore.: Merle, (left) with Austin (right) and granddaughter Trinity.

Point S dealers immediately jumped on the opportunity. Toyo is one of the group’s four preferred tire vendors. (The others are Nokian Tyres Inc., Hankook Tire America Corp. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.) Toyo tires were added to the four Point S warehouses in February 2019. Lybeck says the addition of Toyo, and a six-week rebate in the fall, were “wildly successful.” It was probably the group’s most successful promotion ever, and brought 5,000 new customers into Point S dealers’ stores. “Our members adapted to the brand. We were able to demonstrate to our members that other products are ok and that we as a group can act together.” Eric Gill, the largest Point S dealer with 15 stores, is also the chairman of the dealer board. He says the group’s preferred vendors MTD April 2020

The most popular tire sizes for Point S USA Joe Moore, director of purchasing, highlighted the group’s most popular tire sizes, and how those sizes have shifted since 2015. Notably, in the group’s top 10 passenger tire sizes, there’s not a single 18-inch or larger tire represented. 2019 rank

Passenger tire size

2015 rank

205/55R16

215/60R16

195/65R15

225/65R17

215/55R17

225/60R16

225/55R17

225/60R17

205/65R15

225/50R17

For Point S dealers in the U.S., nine of the 10 fastest-growing passenger tire sizes fit 18-inch and 19-inch wheels. 2019 rank

Passenger tire size

2015 rank

225/55R19

112

245/55R19

110

245/60R18

101

235/55R19

235/60R18

235/45R18

225/60R18

225/55R18

255/60R19

205/65R16

see results from their partnership with Point S dealers. “The story we’re happy to tell is that our preferred vendors have had huge success with us, and our members are able to act as one,” sas Gill. “We want to make sure our members have the systems, the products and the tools to be successful.”

INVESTING IN DIGITAL TOOLS

Here’s a look at two of those systems and tools designed to help Point S dealers. A year ago Steve Helstrom, director of IT and operations, unveiled the group’s brand new All-Trac Platform. A handful of dealers tested the program in 2019, but it’s been beefed up over the last year by the w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Point S team of IT programmers. The system offers scheduling and bay management tools, plus communication resources and a customer retention tool. Helstrom says the goal was to make All-Trac modern, easy to use and available on mobile devices and tablets. Eventually the team will consider making it mesh with other point-of-sale systems, but for now All-Trac is fully compatible with the group’s proprietary system, which is called Traction. All-Trac helps stores schedule service appointments, and flexes as customers make their own appointments online. Technicians in the bays can see the service

tickets from the front counter and see the jobs assigned to them. There are tools to monitor bay productivity and technician productivity. Helstrom says dealers should “get paper out of your system.” He says the time spent shuffling paper from one desk to the next is time lost with a customer. The tools to communicate with customers include options for text or email, plus options to include photos that demonstrate the work that needs to be done. Photos of tires and parts that are in good condition can be included, too. To measure a store’s success, there are tools to send customers a text or email asking them to rate their experience on a 1-10 scale. If customers respond with a high score, there’s a response that invites them to submit a review on Google. If the score is in the middle or low, the store responds by asking what happened, and how they could do better. The digital tools reach past the Point S front counter. New for 2020 is a modern answer for the printed posters and point-ofsale materials the marketing team used to create and ship to stores throughout the year. Every store will soon get a shipment of two matching, standalone digital billboards designed to be positioned inside a showroom. Point S stores won’t be charged for the monitors, but will have the option to pay $50 a month for branded content for their existing lobby televisions. There will be some customizable options. The benefit is the content can be refreshed quickly, and it will eliminate deliveries of paper point-of-sale materials. That means when a tire rebate ends in the middle of the month, the poster for it won’t still be hanging on the showroom wall three weeks later. Brian Grandstaff, owner of Brian’s Tire & Auto Repair Point S in Pocatello, Idaho, was so excited when Point S leaders unveiled the digital billboards on stage that he jumped to his feet with applause. Grandstaff says he knows the paper posters are expensive, and he doesn’t always even like them. “I have a closet full of posters.” He thinks the digital look will impress customers. “It takes it to the next level. It gives the impression that you’re up front and current. It just blew me away. This is way better than a poster.” ■

TPMS

Chrysler Town & Country (2008-16) COURTESY FIAT/CHRYSLER

he tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) in 2008-2016 Chrysler Town & Country vehicles monitors air pressure in the four road tires (excludes the spare). Pressure in the spare tire is not monitored. There are two tire pressure monitoring systems available, a base system and a premium system. The base system does not specify how many tires are low or where they are located. The premium system does so. The base TPMS consists of tire pressure monitoring sensors attached to each road wheel through the valve stem mounting hole, a central receiver module wireless ignition node (WIN), and an indicator lamp. The premium TPMS consists of tire pressure monitoring sensors attached to each road wheel through the valve stem mounting hole, a wireless control module, three wheel sensor transponders located in three of the four wheel wells, an electronic display, and an indicator lamp. Using an RF signal, each sensor transmits tire pressure data approximately once every minute. Each sensor’s (transmitter) broadcast is uniquely coded so that the sentry key remote entry module (SKREEM) can monitor the state of each of the sensors on the four rotating road wheels. Upon detection of a warning or fault condi-

tion, the WIN will send a request to the module that controls the indicator lamp (and the text display if equipped with the premium system) via the vehicle bus system to illuminate or flash the indicator lamp. Also, upon detection of a warning or fault condition, the electronic display will send a request to sound the “chime.” The WIN will store all warning and fault conditions, placard pressure values and low-pressure threshold values (lamp ON and OFF) in memory that can be accessed through diagnostic communication. If new sensors are introduced to the vehicle, the data stored for the sensor being replaced will be deleted. The WIN will store all wheel sensor IDs and locations and faults in memory that can be accessed through diagnostic communication. All other data values transmitted from each active wheel sensor (not the spare tire) shall be stored in the WIN memory. After a sensor has been replaced, the WIN automatically learns and stores the sensor IDs while driving continuously above 15 mph (24 km/h) for 10 minutes. The learning sequence will initiate when the vehicle has been stopped for more than 20 minutes. Under the following conditions, the system may not function properly: • The areas, facilities or devices that use

similar radio wave frequencies are located in the vicinity of the vehicle. • A radio device of similar frequency is used near the vehicle. • A lot of snow or ice is stuck to the vehicle, especially around the wheels or wheel housings. • The battery of the sensor has been depleted (approximate 10-year life span). • A spare tire is installed. • A tire without a tire pressure sensor is used. • Wheels other than manufacturer factory wheels are used.

TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR WARNING INDICATORS

If the TPMS detects that the tire pressure in any road tire is going low, the TPMS will continuously illuminate an indicator lamp. In the premium TPMS, in addition to the chime and lamp, a graphic display of the pressure value(s) and position of the low tire(s) will flash in the electronic vehicle information center (EVIC). Once pressure in the suspect tire(s) raises above the low pressure (lamp) OFF threshold, and the TPMS module receives a valid transmission from the sensor, the lamp will go out. If a system fault is detected, a chime will MTD April 2020

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he moderrn combustion engine g has evolvved d by b quantum leaps l in recent years, from f bl variable valve timing to advanced d d metallurgy, tu b h h h urbocharging, higher compression, and direct d injection. Engines are smaller and ligh ghter. They experience greater heat, tigh l hter tolerances, more stress, and more power p ll while h l meet– all ing stricter requirrements for f emissions and fuel efficiencyy. Concurrently,, oil chemistries have evolved in lock-steep with engine g innova-tions. Today’s engiines can be expected to rev to 9,000 RPM Ms and produce emissionss that h are technically cleeaner than the air that we wentt into the intake. At the same tim me,, oil change intervals have h been extended as part of the environmeental ta standards to reduce duce waste oil. The dayys off 20W50 are long ggone. Now, 5W20 and 0W W20 are common engiine oil weights. None off these modern enginee oils are possible without w synthetic chemistry ry. Yet, one vital link h off innovank in a chain tion from engines to lubricants has been overlooked and underappreciated by car makers, enthusiasts, and technicians alike: The filter. Think about it. With all the technology going into the engine and the oil, why would anyone choose to filter it through the cheapest thing they can find? A modern engine with a modern oil requires something better, especially faced with drain intervals much longer than the 3,000 miles we all

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worse, the filteer could be bypassing w altogether, g seending dirty, unfiltered o ll throu h ugh the engine. oill all That’s why w the Auto Value and B Bumper to o Bumper product team c collabora ated with WIX, the leadingg manu ufacturer of oil filters, to create thee Parts Master Synthetic Filter. Itt’s the perfect complement to o Parts Master Synthetic O wh Oil, hich is developed for Auto V Value and Bumper to Bumper by Valvoline. Parrts Master Synthetic Filters feaature a synthetic-based filter te medium that’s made o h of high-quality materials t lored to each specific tail mo odel, resistant to the aggressive chemical comagg po onents of synthetic oils, and has than 30% more an c pacity to match with the cap synthetic compounds in syn today’s complex synthetic oil chemistry. It features a silicone anti-drainback vvalve for extended servicee life and a precisionengineered g ggaskeet to keep the oil where y want it, insid you de the engine. ll it’s made by WIX: longtime Best off all, m h Allia ll ance and makers of the partner to the Master Filter. standard Parts Mas Times change. That’s certainly evidenced by the revolutionary changes in today’s engines and lubricants. Its time you changed your thinking about what filter best pairs with these lubricants. The Parts Master Synthetic Filter. Talk to your Auto Value or Bumper to Bumper parts supplier today or visit partsmastersynthetic.com to find out more. ■

TPMS ALL ART COURTESY OF CHRYSLER CORP.

Figure 1: Identifying tire pressure sensor components (1 of 2).

sound, and the TPMS indicator (telltale) lamp will flash for 75 seconds, then remain on solid. For vehicles with the premium TPMS, a “CHECK TPM SYSTEM” message will appear in the EVIC, followed by a graphic display. See the appropriate manufacturer service information.

TPMS RESET PROCEDURES

NOTE: If a tire pressure sensor has been replaced, the tire pressure sensors must be retrained. When the tire pressure warning light illuminates and warning message appears, immediately check air pressure of all tires and adjust to the specified pressure. Drive the vehicle above 15 mph (24 km/h) for a few minutes. Ensure warning indicators go out.

TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR RETRAINING

NOTE: The vehicle must be stationary for more than 20 minutes in order to initiate the learning sequence. Automatic sensor training The SKREEM automatically learns and stores the sensor’s ID while driving after a sensor has been replaced. There is no formal retraining procedure necessary. Drive the vehicle for a minimum of 10 to 20 minutes while maintaining a continuous speed above 15 mph (24 km/h). During this time, the system will learn the new sensor ID code and will clear any DTCs automatically. If a sensor cannot be trained, see the appropriate manufacturer service information.

TPM-RKE Analyzer can take up to a minute to force a transmission from a sensor. Once the new sensor ID has been programmed, the vehicle will need to be driven above 15 mph (24 km/h) until the fault is no longer active (lamp extinguishes) and the display is updated (10 to 20 minutes). Scan each TPMS sensor at each road wheel, and then store each sensor ID in the correct location (left front, left rear, right front, and right rear). Connect the TPM-RKE Analyzer tool to the scan tool. Then follow the programming steps outlined in the diagnostic scan tool for “Program Tire Pressure Sensor ID w/ TPM Tool.”

DEMOUNTING/MOUNTING PROCEDURES

CAUTION: The tire should be demounted from the wheel using the tire changer manufacturer’s instructions. Use the following information to avoid damage during the demounting/mounting procedures. CAUTION: The TPMS has been optimized for the original equipment tires and wheels. TPMS pressures have been

established for the tire size equipped on the vehicle. Undesirable system operation or sensor damage may result when using replacement equipment that is not of the same size, type, or style. Aftermarket wheels can cause sensor damage. Do not use aftermarket tire sealants or balance beads if your vehicle is equipped with TPMS, as damage to the sensors may result. NOTE: If a tire pressure sensor has been replaced, the tire pressure sensors must be retrained. See “TPMS RESET PROCEDURES.” NOTE: If the tires require leak-testing, a water test may be used to check for a leak around the sensor as long as any water at the valve core is removed when the procedure is completed. Water can be expelled from the core area by pushing in on the core for several seconds, allowing escaping air to drive out any moisture. Re-inflate the tire as necessary. Install the original valve stem cap. NOTE: Wheels and tires are matchmounted at the factory. Before demounting a tire from its wheel, a reference mark should be placed on the tire at the valve stem location, to ensure that it is remounted in the original position on the wheel. For match-mounting procedures, refer to the appropriate manufacturer service information. NOTE: Tire pressure may increase from 2 to 6 psi (14 to 41 kPa) during normal driving conditions. Do NOT reduce this normal pressure build up.

TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR

IMPORTANT: This vehicle uses the 433 MHz TPMS sensor. Although 315 MHz

SCAN TOOL SENSOR TRAINING

NOTE: A new sensor ID can also be programmed directly into the WIN or TPMS module by using an RKE-TPM Analyzer in conjunction with a scan tool. Using a

Figure 2: Identifying tire pressure sensor components (2 of 2).

Figure 3: Demounting the tire with tool.

MTD April 2020

AUTOMOTIVE INTELLIGENCE

TPMS KITS Ask Your Autel Distributor for Details

Figure. 4: Removing and installing the tire pressure sensor.

and 433 MHz sensors are identical in size and shape, they are not interchangeable. Always make sure the correct sensor is being used. An RKE-TPM Analyzer can be used to determine the sensors frequency without having to demount the tire. CAUTION: The cap used on this valve stem contains an O-ring seal to prevent contamination and moisture from entering the valve stem. Retain this valve stem cap for reuse. Do not substitute a regular valve stem cap in its place. CAUTION: Do not attempt to install a tire pressure sensor in an aftermarket wheel. Use tire pressure sensors in original style factory wheels only. If aftermarket wheels are installed, and therefore do not contain tire pressure sensors, the system will not function properly and the driver will be continuously notified of a system malfunction. CAUTION: After inspecting or adjusting the tire pressure always reinstall the valve stem cap. This will prevent moisture and dirt from entering the valve stem, which could damage the tire pressure sensor. CAUTION: The valve stem used on this vehicle is made of aluminum and the core is nickel plated brass. The original valve stem core must be reinstalled and not substituted with a valve stem core made of a different material. This is required to prevent corrosion in the valve stem caused by the different metals. CAUTION: Any time a sensor is to be installed in a wheel, it is necessary to install a new sensor-to-wheel seal, metal washer and valve stem nut, to ensure airtight sealing (see Figure 1). CAUTION: DO NOT reuse the sensor-to-wheel grommet. Always use w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

a new grommet when installing a pressure sensor and properly torque the sensor nut. Removal 1) Remove the tire and wheel assembly from the vehicle. 2) Demount the tire from the wheel following the tire changer manufacturer’s instructions while paying special attention to the following to avoid damaging the pressure sensor: • When breaking the tire bead loose from the wheel rim, avoid using the bead breaker in the area of the sensor. That includes both front and rear beads of the tire (see Figure. 3). • When preparing to demount the tire from the wheel, carefully insert the mounting/demounting tool at the valve stem +/- 10 degrees, then proceed to demount the tire from the wheel. Use this process on both the upper and lower tire beads. 3) Using a thin-walled socket, remove the special nut retaining sensor to the wheel. While removing the nut, hold pressure against the rear of the metal valve stem to keep the valve stem from pushing rearward, which could damage the antenna strap (see Figure. 2). 4) Remove the sensor from the wheel (see Figure 4). Installation NOTE: Before reinstalling an existing tire pressure sensor, replace the seal and metal washer at the base of the valve stem to ensure proper sealing (see Figure 1). 1) Wipe the area clean around the sensor/valve stem mounting hole in the wheel. Make sure the surface of the wheel is not damaged. CAUTION: To avoid

TS508/TS508WF PLUS

COMPLETE

SOLUTION

Phone: (855) 288-3587 • USSUPPORT@AUTEL.COM AUTEL.COM • MAXITPMS.COM • MAXISYSADAS.COM

TPMS TPMS columns on demand on our website Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) columns are presented in each issue of Modern Tire Dealer, courtesy of Mitchell 1. Here is a rundown of the columns in 2019 and 2020, available on www.moderntiredealer.com in the digital editions found at the January 2020

Lexus RC F, RC 200T, RC 300 and RC 350

February 2020

Buick Regal, 2011-2019, and Verano, 2012-2017

March 2020

Hyundai Equus & Sonata, 2011-2019

April 2019

Ford Econoline (E150-E450): 2010-18

May 2019

Dodge Journey – 2009-18

June 2019

Kia Sportage – 2011-18

July 2019

Land Rover/Range Rover line, 2006-18

August 2019

Lexus RX Series, 2016-19

September 2019

Ford Taurus, Police Sedan and Lincoln MKS, 2011-19

October 2019

Volvo S-Series 2005-2015

November 2019

Chrysler Jeep and Renegade, 2015-2017

December 2019

Honda Odyssey, 2011-2019

damaging the sensor antenna strap, hold pressure against the rear of the metal valve stem while the sensor is inserted through the wheel mounting hole and the nut is installed (see Figures 2 and 4). 2) Insert the sensor through the wheel as shown keeping pressure against the rear of the metal valve stem. The potted side of the sensor is to be positioned toward the wheel. Do not attempt to mount the sensor otherwise, or damage may occur. Install the sensor nut (with pressed-in washer) by hand (see Figures 4 and 5). NOTE: Before tightening the sensor nut, push downward on the sensor housing in an attempt to make it flush with the interior contour of the wheel. 3) Using a thin-walled socket, install the sensor nut. While holding the sensor in position, tighten the sensor nut to 40 in.-lbs. (4.5 N.m).

bottom of our home page. All of our TPMS columns are available on demand, covering well over 100 makes and models. Simply type in TPMS in the search bar in order to locate the column that you want to read. Land Rover/Range Rover (July 2019)

Volvo S-Series (October 2019)

CAUTION: Over-torquing the sensor nut by as little as 106 in.-lbs. (12 N.m) may result in sensor separation from the valve stem. Under this condition, the sensor may

Torque specifications Component Wheel nut Tire pressure sensor nut

Ft.-lbs. 85

(N.m) (115)

In.-lbs. 40

(N.m) (4.5)

Over-torquing the sensor nut by as little as 106 in.-lbs. (12 N.m) may result in sensor separation from the valve stem. Under this condition, the sensor may still function; however, the condition should be corrected immediately.

still function; however, the condition should be corrected immediately. 4) Mount the tire on the wheel following the tire changer manufacturer’s instructions, paying special attention to the following to avoid damaging tire pressure sensor: Rotating wheel tire changers Once the wheel is mounted to the changer, position the sensor valve stem approximately 210 degrees from the head of the changer in a clockwise direction before rotating the wheel (also in a clockwise direction) to mount the tire. Use this procedure on both the upper and lower tire beads (see Figure 6). Rotating tool tire changers Position the wheel on the changer so that the sensor valve stem is approximately 210 degrees from the head of the changer MTD April 2020

TPMS breaker area to avoid damaging the sensor when the breaker rises. Rotate the tool in a counterclockwise direction to mount the tire. Use this procedure on both the upper and lower tire beads. 5) Adjust air pressure to specification. Make sure the original style valve stem cap is securely installed to keep moisture out of the sensor. Install the wheel and tire assembly on the vehicle. 6) Drive the vehicle for a minimum of 5 minutes while maintaining a continuous speed above 15 mph (24 km/h). During this time, the system will learn the new sensor ID code and will clear any DTCs automatically. If a sensor cannot be trained, see the appropriate manufacturer service information. ■

Figure 5: Installing the tire pressure sensor.

in a clockwise direction from the mounting end of the tool (see Figure 7). Make sure the sensor is clear of the lower bead IS THE ONLY

COMPLETE

Information for this column comes from the tire pressure monitoring systems data in ProDemand®, Mitchell 1’s auto repair information software for domestic and import vehicles. Headquartered in Poway, Calif., Mitchell 1 has provided quality repair information solutions to the automotive industry since 1918. For more information, visit www.mitchell1.com. To read archived TPMS articles, visit www.moderntiredealer.com.

TPMS MANUFACTURER TO OFFER A

SOLUTION

OE QUALITY SENSORS

POWERFUL SCAN TOOLS

PRESS RELEASE INTERCHANGEABLE VALVE STEMS ALUMINIUM / RUBBER

Figure 6: Mounting the tire using a rotating wheel machine.

1-SENSOR • 99% Vehicle Coverage • 1-SKU Limited Inventory • Dual Frequency 315MHz + 433MHz • Original Equipment Fit, Form & Function

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Figure 7: Mounting a tire using a rotating tool machine.

w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Phone: (855) 288-3587 • USSUPPORT@AUTEL.COM AUTEL.COM • MAXITPMS.COM • MAXISYSADAS.COM

Products Gaither Tool has new Moore-Safe Jack The new Moore-Safe Jack is designed to securely cradle vehicle components to reduce the chance of slippage due to misplacement or a shifting load. Gaither Tool Co. Inc. says the Moore-Safe Jack dramatically reduces the chance of vehicle drops. The new jack has a Y head for round axles and square surfaces and a round head for u-bolts and flat surfaces. A head holder is included. The jack, which has a 20-ton lifting capacity, maintains the center of gravity while lifting. The Moore-Safe Jack comes with two interchangeable adaptor heads. GAITHER TOOL CO. INC. www.gaithertool.com

Terra Trac AT II earns 3PMS The Terra Trac AT II from Hercules Tire & Rubber Co.has earned the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rating. Hercules says a new tread compound allows the Terra Trac AT II to be severe snow rated while maintaining its off-road capabilities. The all-terrain, all-season tire has 60,000-mile tread wear coverage, road hazard protection and a 45-day free trial period. The AT II is available in 59 SKUs, ranging from 15and 20-inch diameters. Hercules is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Tire Distributors Inc. HERCULES TIRE & RUBBER CO. www.herculestire.com

Goodyear introduces WinterCommand Ultra The new WinterCommand Ultra from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is designed for sedans and CUVs. Goodyear says the premium studless winter tire’s CryoAdaptive compound gives drivers an edge in extreme cold conditions. V-Tred technology and hydro dynamic grooves maximize water, slush and snow evacuation without compromising ride comfort. ActiveGrip technology offers handling and traction in wet and slushy conditions. The tire will be available in 23 initial sizes in the third quarter of 2020, with another 30 sizes for 18- to 20-inch wheels coming in 2021. GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. www.goodyear.com

Rotary Lift adds high-capacity alignment lift The new ARO22 high-capacity alignment lift from Rotary Lift has an open-front design that is engineered for cars and commercial vehicles weighing up to 22,000 pounds. The alignmentready lift has a 26-inch-wide platform runway with 40-inch spacing in between. It is equipped with air-operated rolling jacks, including a 9,000-pound-capacity front jack and a low-profile, 15,000-pound-capacity rear jack. The air-locking rear steer plates are operated from a power column that eliminates the process of setting pins. Rotary Lift is a Vehicle Service Group brand. ROTARY LIFT www.rotarylift.com

New Ranger wash cabinets available Two new Ranger RS-500DS and RS-750DS stainless steel spray wash cabinets are designed to resist rust while washing away the grime from a full range of vehicle parts, from nuts and bolts to larger truck and SUV engine components. BendPak Inc. says the cabinets’ unique stainless steel construction makes them resistant to deterioration and the harmful effects of rust. The RS-500DS can degrease a variety of vehicle components while the RS-750DS can degrease heavy-duty truck components. BENDPAK INC. www.bendpak.com

Nokian offers One HT in North America The new Nokian One HT premium all-season tire for light trucks and sport utility vehicles is available for sale throughout North America. Nokian Tyres plc says the One HT is engineered for the diverse needs of North American drivers. It is reinforced with Aramid Armor, which adds extra protection to LT-metric versions of the tire, providing a puncture-resistant shield to protect from road hazards. Other features include Aramid Sidewall technology, which provides protection from potholes and other obstacles encountered in daily urban driving and on rough terrain. NOKIAN TYRES PLC www.nokiantires.com MTD April 2020

Dill has new valve stem holder

Permatex Threadlocker available in gel formation Permatex High Strength Removable Orange Threadlocker is now available in a drip-free gel formation as well as in more application sizes. The company says new Permatex Orange Threadlocker Gel ensures precise application without drips, globs, mess or waste. The formulation is ideal for overhead, vertical and hard-to-reach applications. Also, several sizes and applicators have been added to the Permatex High Strength Removable Orange Threadlocker line. Permatex is a division of ITW (Illinois Tool Works Inc.). PERMATEX www.permatex.com

The new 673 Valve Stem Holder from Dill Air Control Products LLC is designed to hold truck tire valves in place with minimal effort by allowing extended access. The company says technicians are able to consistently tighten tire valves at the correct angle every time, preventing air leaks. Made in the U.S., the tool has a precisiondrilled inside diameter for smooth install and removal. It is sold in single pack quantity. DILL AIR CONTROL PRODUCTS LLC www.dillvalves.com

Denso adds ignition coils Denso Products and Services Americas Inc. has added four coil-on-plug (COP) part numbers to its line of aftermarket ignition coils. The expansion extends coverage to 2012-2018 Honda and Acura models. Denso says all of its ignition coils are built with top-grade materials in close collaboration with vehicle manufacturers. With the additional part numbers now available, Denso offers a total of 136 part numbers of high-performance ignition coils covering more than 6 million vehicles on the road today. DENSO PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AMERICAS INC. www.densoautoparts.com

Raybestos R-Line expands for older vehicles

Rein offers automatic transmission service kits New Rein Automotive Automatic Transmission Service Kits are designed for European models equipped with ZF 6HP series transmissions. The service kits include all of the parts and components needed for proper transmission service, including the pan, filter and gasket, pan bolts, valve body adapter and sleeves, harness plug sleeve, and fill plug seal. CRP Automotive says the kits are a solution to the short-lived valve body sealing sleeves and adapter in ZF 6HP series transmissions. CRP Automotive is part of CRP Industries Inc. REIN AUTOMOTIVE www.reinautomotive.com w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Brake Parts Inc LLC (BPI) has added part numbers for older vehicle models to its R-Line brake pad offering. The company says the Raybestos R-Line now has nearly 1,000 part numbers and covers virtually every type of domestic or import nameplate vehicle that may enter its customersâ€™ bays. The Raybestos R-Line is designed to offer reliable stopping power with broad coverage for cars, vans, sport utility vehicles and light trucks. RAYBESTOS www.brakepartsinc.com

Toyo releases Open Country III A/T The new Toyo Open Country A/T III is available in 70 popular SKUs that fit rim diameters ranging from 15 inches to 20 inches. The new tire is the next generation of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.â€™s Open Country on/off-road all-terrain light truck tire line. Features include staggered shoulder lugs that provide increased off-road performance It is 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake-certified. The Toyo Open Country A/T III will be available in a total of 127 SKUs, up to 22 inches in rim diameter, by the summer of 2020. TOYO TIRE U.S.A. CORP. www.toyotires.com

Ad Index WHEN YOU CONTACT ONE OF OUR ADVERTISERS PLEASE BE SURE TO MENTION YOU SAW THEIR AD IN MODERN TIRE DEALER

ADVERTISER

PAGE

WEBSITE

1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels

www.everyrim.com/MTD

Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc.

www.partsmastersynthetic.com

Alliance Tire Group

www.atgtire.com

American Omni Trading

www.thunderertireusa.com

American Omni Trading

www.americustire.com

AUTEL

29, 72, 75

www.autel.com

AutoNation

www.autonation.com

BendPak Inc. Ranger Products

www.mybendpak.com

BKT USA Inc.

www.bkt-tires.com

Bridgestone Affiliated Retailer Nationwide Network

www.affiliatedretailer.net

Double Coin Tires

www.doublecointires.com

DSP 20 Group

www.20dsp.com

Falken Tires

www.falkentire.com

General Tire

www.generaltire.com

GT Radial

www.gtradialsmartprogram.com

Independent Tire Dealers Group

www.itdgusa.com

Ken-Tool

www.kentool.com

Kenda Tires USA

IBC

www.kendatraction.com

Kumho Tire USA Inc.

3, 25-26

www.kumhotireusa.com

Magnum+

www.magnumbalance.com

Marangoni Tread N.A.

www.na.marangoni.com

Maxxis Tires

www.maxxisaccelerate.com

Nexen Tire America Inc.

IFC

www.nexentireusa.com

Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc.

OBC

www.nittotire.com

Sentury Tire

www.delintetires.com

Synchrony Car Care

www.synchronybusiness.com/carcare

Vipal Rubber Corporation

www.vipal-usa.com

Vredestein Tires

42-43, 67

www.vredestein.com

Yokohama Tire Corporation

www.yokohamatire.com

ZC Rubber America Inc.

www.arisuntires.com MTD April 2020

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