Top 100 retreaders: An analysis

Feb. 12, 2015

An analysis of Modern Tire Dealer’s “Top 100 retreaders in the U.S.” list is more than a microcosm of the domestic retreading industry. It represents such a large percentage of output that it almost speaks for the industry as a whole.

First the basics. The 100 retreaders oversee 295 retread shops, well below the estimated 650 to 680 shops in the U.S. However, they retread 50,139 truck tires a day and 576 OTR tires a day.

There are 97 truck tire retreaders and 25 OTR tire retreaders. Based on a five-day work week, they produced 13 million truck tire retreads and close to 150,000 OTR retreads.

The top independent retreaders on the list are (with their total pounds of rubber used in parentheses):

  1. Southern Tire Mart (27.3 million).
  2. Purcell Tire & Rubber Co. (12 million).
  3. Best One Tire Group (14.7 million).
  4. Snider Tire Inc., dba Snyder Fleet Solutions (15 million).
  5. McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc. (9.7 million).

When MTD compiled its first top retreaders list in 1988, the top five independent tire dealers were, in order, ABC Treadco Inc., Pro-Tread Corp., Les Schwab Tire Centers, Edwards-Warren Tire Co. and Northwest Retreaders/Hudson-Odom (what is now Northwest Wholesale and Retreading). Twenty-six years later, only two of the five remain: Les Schwab (11th on the Top 100) and Northwest Wholesalers (ninth).

Truck tire retreading

Last year, the 97 truck tire retreaders on the list accounted for nearly 83% of the 15.6 million truck tires retreaded.

The average truck tire retreader produced 516 truck tire retreads a day. If Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC and Michelin North America Inc. (TCi Tire Centers) are removed from the list, the 94 remaining retreaders produced 40,159 truck tire retreads a day, an average of 427 per retreader.

The top 25 retreaders in 2014 retreaded three times as many truck tires as they did in 1988. Daily plant efficiency also increased. Last year, the top 25 averaged 183 retreads per shop; in 1988, they averaged 63 per shop.

OTR tire retreading

There are 25 OTR retreaders on the Top 100 retreaders list. They retread 576 OTR tires a day ranging from small (in the 19.5-inch range) to giant (up to 63 inches). They produce close to 150,000 retreads a year, which, based on a five-day work week, represents close to 50 million pounds of tread rubber a year.

The top independent OTR tire retreader is Purcell Tire, which retreads 125 OTR tires a day. Northwest Wholesale and Retreading is second at 111 a day, followed by B.R. Retreading at 89 a day and McCarthy Tire at 40 a day. Community Tire Co. and RDH Tire and Retread Co. tied for fifth at 35 each a day.

In the last three years, truck tire casing costs have risen only 1.3%. The average cost of a truck tire casing during the “Great Recession” of 2009 was $58.37, a $20 difference.   ■

About the Author

Bob Ulrich

Bob Ulrich was named Modern Tire Dealer editor in August 2000 and retired in January 2020. He joined the magazine in 1985 as assistant editor, and had been responsible for gathering statistical information for MTD's "Facts Issue" since 1993. He won numerous awards for editorial and feature writing, including five gold medals from the International Automotive Media Association. Bob earned a B.A. in English literature from Ohio Northern University and has a law degree from the University of Akron.