Are you taking the direct route to customer satisfaction?

John Kelsey, owner and president of Kelsey Tire Inc. in Camdenton, Mo., recently had what he termed a once in a lifetime experience. He drove the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

Remember “Rubber,” the movie I told you about in my blog way back in January? It’s about a rogue tire that rolls around the desert blowing up objects using its telepathic power – including people’s heads (see “'Rubber' meets the road, and goes on a killing spree.” Well, it’s rolled into movie theaters in a limited number of major cities, and the film critics are weighing in on it.

I’ve been hearing about this for at least a year, but I thought it was some kind of prank and dismissed it. But now it appears there really is going to be a movie released called “Rubber” about a tire that goes on a killing spree.

I read a blog recently by some guy who was criticizing a tire company’s radio ad which suggested that gift certificates for its tire stores make great stocking stuffers. “Not even close,” he said, “by a country mile.”

Last night, David Letterman had high praise for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on his TV talk show.

A recent survey conducted by Schrader International found that 46% of drivers couldn’t figure out what the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) “idiot light” on their dashboard really was. Seems consumers can’t interpret the art – that U-shaped icon with an exclamation point on the inside.

I recently received a press release from a leading chain of transmission and auto care service centers that was titled "Why Use Auto Repair Chain for Repairs?" It provides some interesting facts and figures which pertain to independent tire dealerships that compete with the chain for a share of the automotive service pie.

When a dealer says something to me like, "I hope rebate mania ends," I, of course, have to check it out. And in so doing, my respect for independent tire dealers just got hitched up a notch, again.

Barcodes allow tire manufacturers to efficiently sort tires for shipping and track tires for quality purposes and possible recalls. But do they have to be stuck on the tire bead?