Hankook Tire America Corp. has added to its commercial truck and bus product line with the SmartFlex DL15+ tire. The SmartWay-approved tire boasts several new tread design features to enhance overall traction performance and increase fuel efficiency for regional and long-haul fitments. 

Bridgestone Americas Inc. has introduced the M863 all-position radial tire designed for increased durability for on- and off-highway fleets. The M863 was made for tough trucks, concrete mixers, dump trucks, construction fleets and logging trucks.  

Prinx Chengshan Tire North America Inc. has added sizes to the Fortune Tire pattern designed for commercial light truck applications in the last mile delivery segment.

Hunter Engineering Co.'s tire changer, the Revolution, now connects to HunterNet 2, Hunter's online customer portal. HunterNet 2 makes Hunter-equipped shops more productive and profitable by monitoring equipment utilization in real-time.

Ortho, a voice assistant for the aftermarket, helps tire dealers increase service revenue, save time on maintenance and repairs and attract and retain technician talent. 

Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels has expanded its presence at the King of Hammers (KOH) race in Johnson Valley, Calif. On Feb. 2-11 by showcasing its latest off-road technology on more than 20 racecars through a new Ultra4 sponsorship program.  

PPG Commercial Coatings has released the PPG Wheel Refurbishing Program, which was created to address the needs of commercial tire retreaders.

Hamaton Inc. has launched the first major update on its IOS TPMS programming app that connects with the U-Pro Hybrid NFC.

Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has introduced the Toyo Celsius II all-weather touring tire, which will replace the company's existing Celsius and Celsius CUV tire models.  

Yokohama Tire Corp. is rolling out its new trailer tire, the 114R medium truck tire, which is designed for fleets and owner-operators who are looking to maximize tire life in regional haul and spread-axle operations. The tire will be available on March 1.

Yokohama Tire Corp. off-road teams are heading to Johnson Valley, Calif. for the annual King of the Hammers (KOH) race, Feb. 4-11. All Yokohama drivers will be on GEOLANDAR off-road tires. KOH, which is the season opener for the Ultra4 National Series racing tour, combines desert racing and rock crawling. 

Demand for medium truck tires was strong during the first nine months of 2022. And several manufacturers report that this positive momentum carried over into the fourth quarter.

The Independent Tire Dealers Group LLC has named Jason Rook its next president and CEO. Rook will replace Dave Marks, who is retiring this year after successfully leading the group for the past five years.

Bridgestone Americas Inc. has introduced the M863 all-position radial tire designed for increased durability for on- and off-highway fleets. The M863 was made for tough trucks, concrete mixers, dump trucks, construction fleets and logging trucks.  

Inflation and interest rates climbed during 2022 and the possibility of a recession hasn’t been ruled out. In theory, mergers and acquisitions should be slowing. But the opposite happened.

Hankook Tire America Corp. has added to its commercial truck and bus product line with the SmartFlex DL15+ tire. The SmartWay-approved tire boasts several new tread design features to enhance overall traction performance and increase fuel efficiency for regional and long-haul fitments. 

Point S tire dealers in the U.S. closed the 2022 books with a 10% increase in sales and a multi-faceted plan to keep those increases coming in the future. That plan includes rolling out the welcome mat for new dealers who are looking for buying power, but aren’t necessarily ready to rebrand and commit to the blue and green way of life.

Thailand remains the biggest exporter of tires to the United States market in three key categories - passenger, light truck and medium truck tires.

Guest speakers and a hall of fame induction highlighted this year's California Tire Dealers Association (CTDA)/1-800 EveryRim New Year Luncheon, which took place on Jan. 26.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. says it will slash 5% of its global staff  "in response to a challenging industry environment and cost pressure driven by inflation."

BendPak Inc. has improved, expanded and branded its EV battery scissor lift table lineup, by creating the new Mobi-EVSTM EV battery and powertrain lifting systems. The systems include an upgraded model and a higher-capacity model, EV4000SL.  

Monro Inc.'s sales decreased 1.9% to $335.2 million during the company's third quarter due to the sell-off of its "wholesale tire and distribution assets," according to Monro officials. However, Monro's comparable store sales increased by 5.6%,