Retreaders look for better year

But demand, pricing remain issues

By: Mike Manges

Jason Stewart, vice president, Action Tire Co. (Forest Park, Ga.): “The biggest thing is price-competitiveness. There’s always somebody who will do it for less right now. We’re going back to the manufacturer to get as much support from them.

“We’ve gone after more wholesale business — other, smaller tire dealers — which has kept our shop full and profitable. It’s keeping our cost-per-man-hour down.

“We feel like 2010 is going to be a flat year. So many people out there are downsizing their fleets, I don’t think it’s going to catch up.

“We’re going to watch costs, and we’re trying to expand our footprint. We’ve always focused on the small-to-medium-sized accounts. We’re now looking at large, national account business.”

Gene Graybill, president, New Holland Tire (Terre Hill, Pa.): “Our retread production is up 17% over last year. And I tend to think that retreading is going to get better. Some customers don’t have the money to buy a $400 new tire.

“The main thing (in the meantime) is watching our credit because a lot of customers who were once good are not good, even customers we’ve had for years. We’ve put about 25% of our customers on cash-on-delivery. But if you don’t do that, you’ll end up with bad debt. It’s a sign of the times.”

Mark Goodes, CEO, Craft Tire Inc. (Uniontown, Pa.): “Right now we have low demand and escalating raw material prices. We’re having a hard time finding good quality casings.  
“I think everybody is (having a hard time) right now because there are so many Chinese and bias-ply tires being run… a lot of radial casings are still running.

“There are no (mining) permits being issued in Kentucky and West Virginia. The coal mining people are very skeptical about our government and its policies. Quarries have been shut down for several months because they have high stockpiles. There’s very little road construction in many of the states where we serve dealers.

“We’re watching our expenses. We’ve reduced our workforce and are trying to do things more efficiently as far as our curing and hours of operation. We’ve basically trimmed in all areas about as much as we can trim.

“I’m hoping in March and April we’ll see some kind of increase,” he adds. “Most of the dealers we talk to are anticipating slow growth until we get into 2011.”    ■

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