PCTNA Gears Up for Big Year

A five-month-old distribution center, a new factory that will come online this October and a recently announced partnership with a company that uses artificial intelligence to keep supply chains running smoothly will help power Prinx Chengshan Tire North America’s (PCTNA) continued growth, say PCTNA officials.

PCTNA’s distribution center in Murray, Ky., which opened this past October, is a dedicated hub for Fortune and Prinx brand TBR tires, among other products, providing the company’s distributors with greater access to inventory and faster delivery.

The warehouse is designed “to fill in our business,” Mark Chandler, vice president of supply chain, PCTNA, recently told MTD, noting that “all of our customers are basically on a direct container program. If you’re out of stock, we can get you replenished quickly.

"We’ve heard from our customers that our brands, Prinx and Fortune, are becoming a huge part of their assortment,” he continued. “This is what they’re going to battle with. They’re making a great margin” selling Prinx and Fortune products. “If we can do a better job of keeping them in stock, that means they’ll be more successful.”

PCTNA is negotiating terms to set up a distribution center in California, said Samuel Felberbaum, the company’s president.

Prinx Chengshan, PCTNA’s parent company, also recently broke ground on a new manufacturing complex in Malaysia that will begin production in October and will ship product to the United States. Tires made there are expected to land in the U.S. near the end of the first quarter of 2027.

"We’re going to build two plants on one piece of dirt,” Felberbaum told MTD. "We’re going to have a PLT plant that will start out with the capacity of six million tires and the TBR plant will initially be set for about 600,000 units.”

According to a statement from Prinx Chengshan, phase two will allow for increased production of “upwards of 15 million PLT and 1.5 million TBR tires” annually.

"From a PLT standpoint, this will enable us to produce more SKUs for the U.S.,” said Felberbaum, and will lead to size range extensions for various products. “We’re really excited about that.”

PCTNA executives are also pleased with dealer response to Prinx and Fortune products rolled out over the last few years. Jerry Granito, the company’s vice president of sales, said there’s been “tremendous response to our all-weather products in both Prinx and Fortune. And our all-terrain tire has been received very well. Those are two growing segments and two very important segments for us and (our) customers have responded very well. They’re
buying and they’re looking for more sizes.”

No new Prinx or Fortune products are scheduled for release in 2026, said Ken Coltrane, PCTNA vice president of product development and marketing. "But we’re developing next-generation product lines for our UHP tire, our touring tire and our highway touring tire. They will come out of our new factories.”

PCTNA recently announced a partnership with Gnosis Freight, “an artificial intelligence-native global freight operating system” that has been designed to provide “real-time insight into container movement from port to delivery,” according to PCTNA officials.

"In partnering with Gnosis, we will be able to give our customers a clearer view of our supply chain and their container flow,” said Chandler. 

"Our regional wholesale distributors are critically important to us,” added Coltrane. "If we can raise our level of expertise in how we supply (customers) over time, that will really be a differentiator. We already have great products and great people. We’re going to get to where our supply chain is really top-level.”