Bob Bissler

Senior Editor

Bob Bissler is Modern Tire Dealer's senior editor. He began his interest in the automotive industry as a teenager helping his brother work on drag race cars, and after high school he worked in his other brother's body shop.

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Mike Manges

Senior Editor

Mike Manges is Modern Tire Dealer's senior editor. He is a three-time International Automotive Media Association award winner and holds a Gold Award from the Association of Automotive Publication Editors. He also edits MTD's acclaimed Commercial Tire Dealer section, as well as The Kovach Tire Report, MTD's sister publication. Mike has traveled the world -- including Asia, Europe and North America -- in pursuit of stories.

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The trucking industry is on the road to recovery. Are you ready?

By: Mike Manges

As a partner in ACT Research, a publisher of commercial vehicle data and analysis, Kenny Vieth tracks trucking industry trends very closely. He likes what he's seeing.

According to Vieth, the trucking industry is on the road to recovery. This bodes well for commercial truck tire dealers, he says.

In a recent conversation, Vieth cited two areas that have shown significant improvement:

1. Capacity. In recent years, there have been too many trucks and not enought freight for trucks to haul. Now, due to the liquidation and/or downsizing of some fleets, plus other factors, fewer trucks are running. Meanwhile, freight has started to move again. "The supply-demand equilibrium has tilted," Vieth told me.

2. Reinvestment in equipment. Over the last year-and-a-half, many fleets cannibalized their own equipment, pulling tires off of parked trucks and trailers and putting them on rigs that were still in operation. This trend appears to have run its course. "Truckers are starting to feel comfortable enough to start investing in their vehicles."

In addition, fleets are aging, which means trucks "are going to become tax liabilities over the next couple of years. Trucks are getting old. They're also running out of warranty. All of the trucks sold during that monstrous 2004-2006 (pre-buy) period are going to be out of warranty."

Old trucks will be traded in and they will certainly need replacement tires. Will you be ready?

Related Topics: ACT Research, Medium truck tires, Retreads, Trucking industry