Is your tire shop certified? Plus Latest Tire News
Evan Lockridge
Contributing Editor
If you outsource tire work, it can be difficult to find a place that does the job right each and every time. That's the dilemma of Jeff, a reader who e-mailed me in response to June's column about the importance of keeping tires properly inflated.
While he agrees that keeping tire pressure properly maintained isn't that difficult, he's often frustrated by outside tire shop personnel who won't "leave a tire the way they found it."
Jeff says he sets up tires to be easy to pressure check, with "flow through caps, short stems or extensions as appropriate, with valve stems pointed or oriented correctly so there is no reaching through from the back or something else. The problem is that every time I have a tire worked on, it comes back different, and quite often impossible to get either the tire pressure gauge or the fill chuck on the valve stem."
Adding to his frustration, he says, are tire service places that do not air up the tires properly, with tires coming back as much at 20 percent underinflated.
If you're having problems like these, one thing you can do is check to see if the people working on your tires have successfully completed the Commercial Tire Service Program from the Tire Industry Association. This program trains tire shop personnel in proper tire service procedures. To make sure they stay current with new developments in commercial tires, they must go through a recertification process every two years.
TIA says more than 15,000 people have successfully completed this training.
At least one tire manufacturer has gotten on the tire-training bandwagon. For six months, Goodyear and TIA have been holding tire technician training classes across the U.S. for Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly dealers. As of late June, some 370 had completed training.
While such training classes can't guarantee a tire problem won't be overlooked, it can give you some peace of mind when it comes to selecting an outside company to take care of your fleet's tires.
(For a list of certified TIA members, visit www.tireindustry.org/cts/direct_about.asp)
Tire Prices On The Rise
Diesel prices aren't the only expense affected by recent price hikes. At least three tire makers have publicly announced commercial tire price increases of between 5 percent and 7 percent this summer.
The reasons are twofold: "Record escalating prices for raw materials such as natural rubber, as well as rising transportation expenses, must now be offset by our price adjustment," says Jim MacMaster, Yokohama executive vice president, Business Division.
Natural rubber prices are around 20-year highs and have already posted strong double-digit increases during the first half of the year. Add this to high oil prices, and it's no wonder there's an increase.
Tire Makers Lock Down Truckstop Agreements
The Big Three tire makers have reached agreements with some of the nation's biggest truckstop chains.
Petro Stopping Centers will sell new BF Goodrich and retread Michelin tires at select locations. Petro already carries new Michelin tires at some 60 Petro:Lube locations across the country, including Michelin's X-One single-wide tires and wheels.
Goodyear and Pilot are working together to develop and build truck service centers at Pilot Travel Center locations. Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems will operate the locations, providing fleets with new and retread tires along with limited mechanical service. Currently there are eight Pilot Truck Care Centers. That number is expected to increase to 21 by the end of the year.
Bridgestone Firestone and Travel Centers of America are continuing their long-term agreement to sell Bridgestone, Firestone and Oncor retread tires at 157 TA repair shop locations.
Tire Maker News Briefs
• Goodyear has rolled out new Dunlop tires to fill out its commercial tire lineup. The new mixed service tires are in addition to a full line of Dunlop line-haul, regional and urban tires.
• Goodyear reached the 1-million mark for its Unisteel G395 LHS steer tire. The tire is the company's most successful steer tire ever. It reached the milestone four years sooner than its predecessor, the G397.
• Bridgestone Firestone announced new web sites for each of its truck tire brands: www.BridgestoneTruckTires.com is targeted to large- and medium-size fleets, while www.FirestoneTruckTires.com is designed for smaller fleets and owner-operators.
