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USA
Small Tyre Retreading
By Kevin Rohlwing, Senior Vice President of Training, Tire Industry Association
Deemed essential by the United States government, the commercial tyre industry has kept the trucks moving throughout COVID-19. There have been declines in business across the board, but the truck tyre retread and service industry as a whole has not experienced the level of contraction felt by retailers. Most of them have been through this before, back in 2008-09, so they know how to
the U.S. was up 59.58%, and Mexico saw an increase of a whopping 200%. Most of Europe experienced similar increases with Belgium leading the way at 123.5%, followed closely by Poland at 122.74%, the United Kingdom in third with a 93.5% increase, while Spain (67.81%) and Germany (41.13%) rounded out the top five.
Of course, some of those online
about half of the replacement and original equipment markets, but the 225/70R19.5 has gained over the last seven years, especially in the last three years leading up to 2020.
continued growth in 19.5-inch sizes.
The trend towards smaller tyres does not stop at the 225/70R19.5, the most popular 19.5-inch truck tyre in the U.S.
A technician mounts new 19.5-inch retreads on reconditioned wheels destined for a package delivery vehicle. Mounted tyre programmes are common in North America where the retreader delivers inflated assemblies to various fleet maintenance facilities
For the retread industry in North America, the growing number of 19.5-inch fitments was good for business before the pandemic. The package delivery companies have relied heavily on these tyres for their door-to-door vehicles, and since COVID-19 entered the picture, they are operating at full capacity and even expanding. For some U.S. retreaders, losses in other areas have been partially
market. Commercial vans are the vehicle of choice for the home delivery business, and sales in North America have shown consistent growth during the same time period. Europe has relied on them for years for all types of delivery, but the move towards the Euro-style high roof vans saw the number of vehicles sold double between 2013 and 2016. As a market segment, vans
run a lean operation in uncertain times. That being said, trash and recycling still need to be collected and food must be delivered to grocery stores, while the trucks carrying toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitiser and cleaning products have become more important than ever.
One particular trend to note is how e-commerce has led to the explosion in home delivery services. A well-known online retailer dominated that space in North America for years, but other retailers have jumped in full speed with their own delivery platforms to get their products dropped off at the front door of consumers. In a study from COVID-19 Commerce Insight (an Emarsys initiative in cooperation with GoodData), the year-over-year growth rate of online transactions compared 7 days during the pandemic to the same 7 days a year ago, Canada showed an increase of 84.63%,
purchases resulted in a package being picked up by the consumer, but the growth in delivery services in general is reshaping e-commerce. As a dog owner, I typically see everyone’s trash and recycling on our evening walk. I can tell you which homes do the most online shopping by the number of boxes on the curb every Sunday evening, including my own! Like most Americans, I’ve been working from home for the last four months and my home office has a window that faces the street. On an average day, I see 5-10 small delivery trucks dropping off packages on my block alone, even on weekends. With thousands and thousands of miles of interstate highways in North America, the 22.5-inch market has dominated the truck tyre industry for decades. The most popular sizes (295/75R22.5, 11R22.5, 275/80R22.5) still represent
offset by the increase in 19.5- inch casings as fleets try to meet the demand of the growing e- commerce and home delivery markets. If the package delivery companies are still running at capacity after the end of the pandemic, the North American retread industry can expect
in general have helped fleets “right-size” and take advantage of the cargo space, manoeuvrability and fuel economy to streamline operations in support of their larger commercial trucks and delivery vehicles.
Looking ahead, is there potential
34 Retreading Business