TIRE NEWS: Florida U-Turn Tragedy Exposed, Michelin vs Bridgestone & Fleet Liability Crisis
🔧 Topics Covered:
The latest updates on U.S. tire tariffs and pricing impacts
How manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are absorbing tariff costs
Shifts in tire brand strategy — including Goodyear, Bridgestone, and Michelin
Tier 1–3 tire production changes and domestic manufacturing trends
The evolution of mining and off-road tire technology (Michelin X Line Grip D, Bridgestone VRDU)
Market pressures on tire performance, fuel economy, and data-driven design
Goodyear’s new distribution direction and industry implications
Show Notes:
Episode: TIRE NEWS: Florida U-Turn Tragedy Exposed, Michelin vs Bridgestone & Fleet Liability Crisis
Host: Joseph and Big John
Runtime: 38 minutes
Summary: In this late-August episode of Around the Bead, hosts Joe and Big John break down the ever-changing landscape of tire tariffs, pricing strategy, and brand direction across the trucking, agricultural, and mining industries. The conversation dives deep into how tariffs are reshaping manufacturer decisions, how global supply chains and interest rates are forcing faster turnover, and why major brands are phasing out lower-tier product lines. The hosts also explore new product launches like Michelin’s X Line Grip D and Bridgestone’s VRDU, discussing what these innovations reveal about competition, performance, and the future of large-scale OTR tires.
What You'll Learn:
How tire tariffs actually influence pricing — and why consumers haven’t yet felt the full impact
Why some manufacturers are abandoning tier 2 and 3 brands in favor of top-tier focus
The ripple effects of tariffs on domestic vs. international tire production
What’s driving new product innovation in both commercial and mining segments
How shifts in distribution strategy, like Goodyear’s move toward TireHub, could reshape supply chains
Transcript (Excerpt):
00:01 [Music]
00:34 Welcome back to Around the Bead. I am your host Joe and I am joined by my co-host Big John. This is coming out the
00:41 last week of August. We've got a great news update for you. Big John, you ready to kick the tires?
00:46 Let's get to kicking, man. So, tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. That's all anybody talks about. You, your
00:52 friends, your family. What do you What do you tell people about tire tariffs? They come up to you, they say, "John,
00:58 how are terrorists affecting you?" I just tell them, "Hold on, man. It's a roller coaster ride right now." It's um
01:04 it's been fun. I mean, no one really knows. And just last week, we get another, you know, round of here's some
01:11 more price increases. Um I do think it's starting to stabilize, which is good, but it created a lot of chaos. I mean,
01:16 for for a lot of us, I mean, I think we uh we thrive in the chaos. We love it. Yeah, we certainly like talking about
01:22 it. It's good conversation starters for for fleets out there. Hey, you have a reason to start looking at tire pricing
01:29 again. Um, do you think there's any winners or losers out there? I mean, you seeing you seeing any price disparities?
01:37 Yeah, I think there I think the losers and and the winners I think it you know, time will tell. Um, what what I what I
01:44 think is going to happen is I think there's a lot of companies right now that are not taking the price increases. They're absorbing it and and that's
01:50 sustainable short term. Uh but I do believe it's going to catch up with them long term, right? Um especially in a in a in a challenging
01:57 economy. I I read something uh from Mark Cuban uh a couple months ago. This is actually
02:03 pre-tariffs and what he wrote was that if you have inventory, it doesn't matter
02:10 manufacturer, distributor, retailer, um because of interest rates, because of cost of operating a business, you don't
02:18 have the option to sit and hold on that inventory. So you basically need to move it at less, you know, uh less than
02:25 market value, pre-tariff rates. Um you don't you don't have that ability. That's completely different than 5 years
02:31 ago, 10 years ago where a lot of people felt comfortable enough um their businesses were running differently and
02:37 they could sit on that inventory and just say, "Hey, uh I'm going to wait." Um but you're still seeing price
02:42 discounts from manufacturers. I don't think the tariffs have really impacted pricing in the market at all yet. No, I
02:49 I agree. I mean, it's and and I think it's coming from every level. I think the the manufacturers are absorbing some
02:56 of it. The um you know, whether it's through, you know, manipulating their currency, however it is done. Um I see
03:03 that on the distributor level, on the dealer level, on all levels, people are taking a little piece of that, which
03:09 really hasn't affected the consumer yet. And I think to your point, you know, three, four years ago, we're in a
03:14 booming economy. Yeah. People need tires. And I think in today's, you know, challenging market,
03:20 um, if that's what we want to call it, um, people are a little bit more hesitant of taking them price increases
03:26 because the fear of not getting that sale cuz they can't afford to lose it. They can't afford to lose it. And sales,
03:31 I mean, they're out there, but I mean, you you know, as good as anyone else, we're fighting for them. Yeah. And, um, they're they're not coming
03:37 easy. Uh you you bring up a very very uh interesting point um uh that makes me
03:45 start thinking about how countries are absorbing these costs. Um a lot of
03:51 people come up to you and say, "Okay, well there's 30% price increase, 30% tariff, so there's 30% price increase."
03:57 And that's not really how it works. No. Um I'm not going to pretend to be a economist today. I think that's a safe
04:04 position for us. Um, but when you from our side looking at increases, dealing
04:10 with factories, dealing with companies overseas and domestic, if it comes out as 30%, you're guaranteed you're not
04:16 going to get a 30%. And that's what the consumer in the fleet needs to know is that there's not necessarily a panic
04:22 that you're going to have a 30% increase on a $300 tire tomorrow. Um, everybody,
04:27 to your point, everybody is absorbing hits along the way, whether it's the country of origin or the country of
04:33 origin of the raw materials or the distributors. Everybody's getting getting beat down along the lines.
04:40 Yeah, I agree. It's um, you know, everyone takes a little hit and um, you know, I I I'd love and I'm not an
04:46 economist either, but I I would love a You can be today if you want to. Well, I could I could just
04:52 about anything, Joe. The last thing I need is a bunch of comments calling me out on on on
04:58 We'd like to see those comments. Please put them in there. Yeah, put them in there. Call me out. Um, but yeah, there's there's a lot of
05:05 layers. I mean, it's it it would take, you know, days and it would it' probably be fun to really go through how this
05:10 stuff really works, how's the tariff from the inside out, from from not only from a manufacturer standpoint, but, you
05:16 know, starting with the country, right? What's the country absorbent? You know, I've heard a lot of, you know, hey, you you can manipulate your currency um to
05:23 absorb some of that. Um the manufacturers are obviously absorbing it. Um I I think at some point I think
05:30 we will see the full blunt of it probably. Yeah. Um but I I think the last thing we could
05:35 afford to do is is just one big blow all of a sudden with everything that's being
05:41 imported into our country, whether it's tires or not tires. Yeah. Um there has to be kind of a a progression through it. and and um I I
05:49 think we're probably in for some price increases on a a quarterly, maybe even a bimonthly um um uh basis.
05:56 So, uh let's let's transition this a little bit uh when we start talking about brands, attires, domestic
06:03 manufacturers, and how some of these international changes or tariffs are going to affect
06:10 the landscape. And what I mean by that is Goodyear has stated that they're going to have a new distribution
06:17 strategy and they're basically going away with their tier 2 and tier three
06:22 lines. Um Dunlot being one of them. Um a good example is for many of the fleets
06:27 out there you may have saw Goodyear Marathon series, right? And that was a a cheaper series and that eventually got
06:34 washed away. But every major manufacturer has had either domestic or
06:40 internationally produced subtier tires, right? So if you're a fleet and you buy Bridgestone tires,
06:46 Firestone is their second tier. Michelin has BFG Goodrich. Continental has General. Um some of these brands have
06:54 been produced, not those in particular, but in certain SKUs they've been produced out of country. Yeah.
06:60 Um now they've all had tier three brands. So, Bridgestone used to have a uh Dayton.
07:05 A Dayton. Thank you. Y uh Michelin had a Uni Royal. Um and
07:11 every single major manufact I shouldn't say every single, but we've heard it from Michelin, we've heard it from Bridgestone, we've heard it from
07:17 Goodyear, uh that they're all focusing on that top tier. And I have to think
07:22 that some of these tariffs, not just this round, but previous rounds that have affected their factory production
07:28 elsewhere is making them go, it's there's too much turmoil. It's too tumultuous for us to deal with. Um, we
07:36 need to stick to what we can produce inhouse domestically. Yeah. And you know, I I was thinking
07:41 about that the other night and I'm I'm sitting there and I going, you know, I think one of the the things that some of
07:48 these import manu import manufacturers do well is they could pivot pretty quickly with within their production. I
07:55 and I don't think the major brand, you know, the Goodyears, the Michelins, the Bridgestones, u they're set up to pivot
07:60 very quickly. You know, they're they're forecast in a long ways out. And and like you said, I think you know when you
08:06 have a lot of turmoil um well there they have so much marketing behind it.
08:11 They have a a huge distribution network. Um take the the Dayton for example. My
08:16 understanding is the Dayton was produced by uh GT Radial in in China uh
08:22 pre-Chinese tariffs. Yeah. Um and uh everybody got hit with that. When the Chinese tariffs came in, there
08:28 was basically no Chinese production, no import production for time frame until
08:34 they could get everything to Southeast Asia. Yeah. Um but you had those tires going to
08:39 every Bridgestone Firestone dealer. You had all of the the wholesale distributors carrying them. You had a
08:45 whole marketing plan. Um they had a lot invested in it. So to your point, yes, it's hard to pivot, but they also put a
08:52 lot into those brands and they expect to get a lot out of them. Yeah. Yeah. It's um we've seen it with Uni Royal five six years ago when
08:59 Michelin brought you know was talking about hey let's bring Uni Royal back on it's going to be a big part of our portfolio on the commercial truck side
09:06 and and I think they made an attempt it didn't work for whatever reason and here
09:11 we are now again without without no production really. Yeah, I I I don't at
09:16 this point foresee tier three production being an element for what we would call
09:24 major domestic manufacturers going forward. Agree. I agree. I don't I don't I I don't I can't say what their their return is on those
09:30 brands, but it just seems like it's just they've they've been scarred too much, hit too many times on it.
09:35 Yeah. I mean, it's it's I mean, at the end of the day, it's not the market they want to play in. I think they felt like
09:41 they've been forced to play in it, but I I don't I mean, we're kidding ourselves if we think Michelin wants to produce
09:47 Uni Royal or Goodyear wants to produce Kelly. I mean, well, okay, let me challenge that a
09:53 little bit. You know, they may not say they want to do it, right? you want to sell your premium brand just like every
09:60 individual wants to sell the best part of themselves. But uh if the market is
10:05 50% tier three from a business standpoint, they're looking at it and going we want as much market share as we
10:11 can get. And so um that's a pretty big play to walk away from. Hey, we're going
10:18 to walk away from 50% of the market. Yeah. Yeah. I I challenge that back too and I would say you know what at that
10:24 that tier three level at the price point they have to sell it if you take all the marketing budgets that obviously go into
10:31 the cost of the tires right but if you're looking at pure manufacturing cost how much more does it really cost to
10:37 make a Michelin than it does a Uni Royal in manufacturing cost in manufacturing cost now there's R&D
10:44 cost there's marketing cost which is probably at the end of the day equal to the to the manufacturing cost so in
10:50 order to build them tier three lines, what's it really going to take them from a marketing standpoint and R&D
10:55 standpoint? Unless they're they're taking lines from tier 1, tier 2 down to tier three.
11:01 And I think we've seen over the years that's been a problem, too. Oh, yeah. Because people gravitate because they have their favorites. We've seen it in
11:07 the General S370s when they went to in the 370s ones when they went to the mirror steals. Yeah. Everyone wanted
11:12 that mirror still. They didn't want the General. Yep. And and and that's just bastard dies in the that tier 2 line. So,
11:19 so let let's hold on to that transition of uh uh favorite models here for a
11:25 second. Um it should be noted that India has not settled yet. So that's still in turmoil.
11:32 Um we could dramatize it I think. Okay, who's going to get hit? Who's not going to get hit? There's a few truck
11:38 factories over there, but primarily it's a lot of import or uh a and off-road. A lot of a yeah
11:44 it comes out of India. um it'll probably all settle where everything else has settled. Um but if there was a big
11:51 number out of there, yes, it could affect a and off-road production. Yeah. I mean, in my opinion, in a really
11:57 critical time because I think, you know, you look at the the a tires that are coming out of India, um they have made
12:04 inroads like crazy the last 10 years on their quality. I mean, you and I sat in meetings, you know, whether it's
12:10 Michelin meetings or other major manufacturers where they didn't even have BKT Alliance on the board as a
12:15 competitor. You go in there today, that's a different story. Um, you know, if they take a big hit where that price
12:22 gap can close. India, India is the dominant agricultural tire manufacturer globally.
12:28 Yes. It'll be interesting to see how that landscape works out, but I'm with you. I think they're going to get it done. Um I
12:35 I think it's a a negotiation ploy as we've seen and it's it's worked out. I think u you know overall I I you know on
12:42 the tariffs you know even outside the tires the commitment from countries invested in the US is to me it's u very
12:50 encouraging. Yeah. Yeah. Huge. Yeah. Okay. So you talk about going from
12:55 general to a steel. Uh Michelin has come out with the X line grip D. Yes.
13:04 Nailed it. Yes. Uh to replace the XDN2. The XDN2. Okay.
13:10 So, the XDN2 was a very uh what you call it? A a unique
13:16 just say fan favorite. Okay. But when it came out, it was different and unique. Yes,
13:21 it was different and unique. It's it it has what they call 3D cyping
13:27 um which seems hard to replicate because most people haven't been able to replicate it. It's a hybrid off-road
13:35 almost looks like a snow tire. Yeah. But a lot of people run it in super regional applications in the drives. And
13:43 if people are running it, they've been loyalist for it forever.
13:49 Yeah. Yeah. You know, when it first came out, I mean, it took a lot of wheel positions of the XDA5, which was another
13:56 favorite for a lot of years. And I think there's a lot of people hesitant over switching that to the XDN2.
14:01 Yeah. And and I think now I I think we're in the same situation. You know, my first look when I when I
14:07 looked at the Xline um GripD, um I looked at and I go, man, that's an ugly damn tire, man.
14:15 So, we're going to put a picture on the screen right after that quote. It's a directional it
14:21 it looks like a a UHP tire on a on a truck tire U position. It's um I mean
14:27 that's the best way directional. Um you know, but I got to tell you, Joe, it's
14:32 uh the more I look at it, the more I read up on it, you know, every time I
14:38 look past that tire, walk past it, I like it more and more. Do you? I do. I It just It's growing on me, you
14:44 know, and and I go back to when the XDN2 came out, it was the same situation. That tire, no one's going to want that
14:50 tire. Yeah. And it performed. Um it'll be interesting. The the treadwear
14:56 um that Michelin is claiming, the increased tread wear um is is aggressive
15:04 to me. You know, um you know, I I understand the the wet weather, the snow handling that they're
15:11 they're they're claiming on it. You know what I was kind of surprised on it is they really didn't come out and at least
15:17 they're not marketing um that I've seen any um benefits from the fuel economy
15:24 um on on that particular tire which has been a lot of the new technology Michelin has really hung their hat on
15:30 over the last 10 years has been fuel based. I I think that marketing
15:37 tires at all levels has mysteriously disappeared from walk from
15:42 talking about fuel economy. Yeah, it used to you used to see that that used to be a sales pitch and for
15:47 whatever reason I can't say whether it just didn't work or maybe there's other value propositions that are skewing
15:54 that. But they you do not see, hey, this is going to save you 7% on your fuel bill.
15:59 You know, I I got to tell you, I I have theories about that. And my theory is it's hard to measure, you know, um you
16:06 could measure tread life, average mileage, right? Yeah. Um there's not a lot of companies that
16:12 putting their pencil to the fuel. They might look at overall fuel, but in a lot of cases, too, that's a whole separate
16:19 division that has them budgets for fuel versus tires. Yeah. Um the tire guys worrying about tires,
16:24 the fuel guys worrying about fuel in a lot of cases. So, I I I wonder if that's if that isn't one of the reasons is it's
16:30 just harder to measure. So, people aren't focused. It's not it's not something that's their ears are going to
16:36 um prop up on when they go, "Hey, you could save 5% fuel." Um you give me 25,000 more miles on a
16:43 drive tire, that's significant. Yeah, I think they still can measure it, but I I I think you're bringing up a
16:49 great point, which is from a a buying standpoint, a purchasing standpoint, the person who's making that decision Yes.
16:57 is more incentivized to go, I want more mileage than I want better fuel economy. Yeah.
17:02 Yeah. Well, uh uh that I looking at it from a
17:07 a manufacturer perspective, Michelin's going to sell every XDN2. They're going to guarantee that wheel position. it's a
17:14 big risk for them to come out with a new tire. I'd be very interested to hear from them what is the net gain on that.
17:21 Like why engineer it? Why do that? Are you gaining more market share with it? Is it a a race for uh better
17:28 performance? And that's a that's a whole different component that we should talk about if you've got a tire in the
17:34 market. So the XDN2, my understanding is it gets medium mileage. It doesn't it
17:40 doesn't get great mileage, but it wears well in a lot of different applications.
17:45 Um, you still have it's been what 10 years plus since it's been out. Yeah. So, you have new competitors coming up
17:51 or getting close to that performance. The pressure to get to that next level must be immense,
17:57 but they're risking that wheel position by bringing out a new tire. You know, do do you think sometimes the pressure to
18:05 improve or come out with a new tire is sometimes just a pressure of having something new? Or is it really the
18:12 pressure of I got to be better than Bridgestone, I got to be better than Continental or or vice versa with one of
18:18 the other brands? I mean, I I think we we've seen this, you know, traditionally u four or five major times where there's
18:24 been a a really favorite tire that's been discontinued with a replacement, and it hasn't always worked out. I I
18:30 think 20 years ago there was a lot more marketing in that influenced buying
18:36 decisions and now it's so much data driven. Yeah. And so when you bring up the example of
18:43 the 167 uh Goodyear getting discontinued or uh any other fan favorite tire, it was a
18:52 industry knowhow folklore that that tire performed. how well it performed, nobody
18:57 knew, but it performed well. Um, now there's so much data behind everything
19:04 that I don't think they're updating things as much as they used to. Their marketing costs are way higher. So, for
19:10 them to come out with a brand new tire and just say, "Hey, buy this because it's brand new." I think they've seen themselves lose wheel positions over it.
19:17 Yeah. But the pressure to at a top at a tier one to come out with a 350,000 mile
19:25 steer tire, which has to be the goal for some of these folks, um they've got to outpace their
19:30 competitors. They do. And you know, I I tell you, I've over the last 10 years, you know,
19:36 even recently, I've questioned a lot of the technology changes and um you know, I've kind of come to grips on these guys
19:43 are a lot smarter than I'm ever going to be. And uh as as you kind of pointed out and alluded to is uh I I' I'd have a
19:51 real struggle thinking any of the major manufacturers are going to come out with a major wheel position upgrade on one of
19:58 their best selling tires and it's not going to be a drastic improvement. So I'm going to use another good example
20:05 for this. We've talked about the XDN2. Yes. Truck tires, high volume, high
20:11 revenue. But take Bridgestone coming out with the VDRU.
20:16 Yeah. Uh it's a trip 7 tire. VRDU. VRDU. Thank you. Trip 7 tire. Uh Cat 777 2700 R49.
20:26 Um, I heard about this tire a little over a year ago that Michelin or excuse
20:31 me, Bridgestone was investing in that 100 ton segment um, in between 80 and
20:38 120. And I was actually surprised because I was getting information that Michelin Goodyear, everybody else was
20:44 focusing on ultraclass. Ultraclass being closer to CAT 797s, really, really big
20:51 equipment. and they're they were investing in this and I thought that's
20:57 that's pretty rare. It's ultra it's probably the most competitive segment out there.
21:02 It's the most competitive. is probably one of the biggest uh if you're if you're looking at market market size,
21:09 you know, cuz there, you know, trip 7s, you're going to see them in in large rock cories and you're going to see them
21:15 in large mining operations also where where the the 793s, they're they're in large operations, and there's
21:21 not a lot of them around in comparison. We need to pull the we need to pull the data, but I have to think that the the
21:27 trip 7 is the most most most amount of units of hall trucks globally.
21:32 Yeah. You know, I you know, it's um I I wonder you know, I think this is in my
21:39 opinion Michel Bridgestone coming out with the VRDU was a a direct uh result of the uh
21:48 success that the Michelin has had with their XDR3. Okay. You know, um 6,000 pounds more a tire.
21:55 Yeah. Um that's significant in any kind of mining operation. Um the uh so you got
22:01 load capacity, tread wear and I think the the VRLS was just getting blown away
22:06 by in a lot of applications against the Michelin and I think they had to improve that tire.
22:12 So they had to improve it. Um I I see your perspective on that. Now you've got
22:18 Yokohama and Goodyear who they've made that acquisition. They're still figuring
22:24 what that looks like. Continental does not have a trip 7 tire if I remember correctly.
22:31 And how far behind are those guys going to be if Bridgestone's already come out
22:37 with this product? Yeah, I think when you get into the real big stuff, you know, and and anything
22:43 over 2749, I I still think everyone's going to be chasing Bridgestone and Michelin and Michelin's going to be
22:49 chasing M Br Bridgestone and Bridgestone's going to be chasing Michelin. That's just the market and that stuff. Yeah. They're they're going to set the
22:54 bar and um and I think, you know, I'm really surprised it took Bridgestone
22:60 what they came out with the u their tire this year. Michelin came out with XDR3
23:06 and 19, I think. Okay. I'm surprised it took them this long to really come out with that tire to u to
23:11 really compete. I Okay. Okay. So, it's going to take a long time for them to come out, but they
23:16 have to. I mean, you think about how much engineering goes into that, how much risk they have, because they do
23:22 have, you could criticize the VRLS, but their their wheel positions that they
23:28 have now, if they're so crucial to them, if they put a tire out there that
23:33 doesn't run, you're going to risk losing that account altogether. You're going to lose risk losing the 988s, all the other
23:40 pieces of equipment if you come out with a brand new tire and hey, we'll just get something cheaper. we'll get a a yoke, a
23:46 maxim, whatever, uh, that can perform just equally as good. Yeah, it it's it's I I think there we we
23:54 seen it in a, you know, uh, years ago where where you had BKT, Maxim, um, some
24:01 of these second or at the time third tier tires really coming up and and making their point to be considered a
24:07 tier two and even upper tier 2 in some applications. um they have to be concerned on that and
24:13 if they're not constantly improving um the other ones will. I I think what I'm trying to say is on
24:19 the mining side the pressure for performance for tier one products is immense.
24:24 Yeah. Uh on an a side very few people track hours. Um nobody tracks mileage of
24:31 course. Um fuel economy isn't a component but there's so much data in mining. Um it's going to put a ton of
24:38 pressure on guys like Yokohama Goodyear that that new group uh to come out with
24:43 great products. Yeah. And I think that the pressures in mining are are you know there's so many different avenues. I mean it's it's um
24:51 capacity. It's it's how quick you know can I move you know a million tons of
24:57 rock from point A to point B? How many runs can I do that in? Um you know so the production schedules are are
25:04 critical. And then you have the heat component. You know, it's the the large otr is so unique in my opinion because
25:11 you you mislicate that or you don't have the correct tire in there. It's not you're replacing a $400, you
25:17 know, tier 2 drive tire. you're you're you're 20,000 plus in some in some
25:23 areas, sometimes 50,000 plus if you mislicate it or if the the Corey or the
25:28 mine operation isn't running that tire properly, whether it's air pressure, their their halls are too long. So, that
25:35 I I think you're going to see again that's going to be ever involved in in newer technology and and uh I I'm
25:43 excited. I I I can't wait to for for our data team to to start comparing Michelin
25:48 with the new Bridgestones, you know, and it'll take a while to get get that going, but to see if it really performs.
25:54 Uh I'm excited to see it. And I I have to think your your Maxims, your Continentals, your Yokohamas,
26:01 uh have to be engineering products right now that will be coming out in the next two to three years tops in order to
26:09 compete in that segment. When is Continental coming out with theirs? I mean, that's that's the question we should be asking, right? I
26:14 mean, they've had a long time and and they haven't been able to produce it or haven't really focused on it. But what
26:21 they have came out in that 295 R25 smaller, some 2400 35s, from what I see,
26:28 they're performing pretty well. I I'm really surprised they haven't entered that market yet. Uh I'm surprised as well. It's It's got
26:34 to be a budget thing. Chicken before the egg. they just slashed all of a um their
26:40 their smaller products are performing well. Um but sooner or later they're going to get pressure on keeping the big
26:46 accounts unless they have the skew range. Okay. Um distribution changes. Uh
26:52 this was kind of more of a a a press memo that went out that hey the CEO of
26:57 Goodyear came out and said hey we're going to have some distribution changes. A CEO comes out and makes an
27:03 announcement generally it means something. Um, they're going to start pushing uh distribution to TireHub.
27:10 Makes sense for them after the ATD collapse. You see anything else coming from that?
27:15 I I don't know with Goodyear. I I think they've went through a lot of lot of changes and you know my my heart tells
27:22 me they're they're searching for an identity to get them back on track to where they were you know years ago when
27:28 they were really you know they were mentioned with in my opinion in every segment almost with Michelin Bridgestone
27:34 and and they lost a lot of that market share. I think they they've done a lot of things well. I think in the government segments they they rule that
27:40 market and I think they focus on it. Um I I don't know what what else comes out. I'm not really surprised about the
27:46 ATD other than it didn't happen before that. Yeah. Um it's um you know at the ATD situation
27:53 is perfect example that if you're not making a profit in business you your your your clock of life has started
27:60 and um so for them to pull that from ATD and make that decision that's not a surprise. I wouldn't be surprised to see
28:07 him, you know, try to force some hands and, you know, you know, it's funny. We've seen this in in um Wingfoot before
28:14 it went back to Goodyear where they started mandating the Wingfoot stores to only be able to stock Goodyear produced
28:20 product, which they do now, which they do now, and they still do, which is a surprise also because it's really hurt their commercial business.
28:26 Um, so I I I wouldn't be surprised if they don't put in some um share of uh
28:33 count, you know, stipulations for some of their largest larger accounts as some other manufacturers have done.
28:38 Mhm. Um but outside of the the pull in um ATD, I I I don't know what their next
28:43 move is. I I think they're going to run and I know their goal is is to be 95 plus percent from what I read um in one
28:50 of the publications on TireHub. Okay. And I think they'll push for that. So 95 plus percent
28:56 of of their dealers getting their their Goodyear product from from um from TyHub, you know, and I know one of the
29:04 big big points from that is they don't want their distributors nitpicking the lines. They want they want people who
29:10 are committed to carrying the complete Goodyear line and not just taking the, you know, the SKs that are, you know,
29:16 the top sellers. I see. Well, I I I kind of like where it's headed. it them focusing on premium
29:24 going away from the marathon. Um they still have a very competitive tire in the uh in the truck segment. Um their
29:33 retail branding, they're still one of the top brands out there in in retail.
29:38 Um and it it says a lot that the CEO is focused on distribution because a lot of
29:45 people could focus on critiquing that side of things. has have they had their own companywide or company owned
29:51 distribution kind of sort of through TireHub, but now you've got a real focus on it. Y and then how do they handle it with
29:58 company owned stores versus dealers? Um either way, change is probably good
30:03 for Goodyear right now. I I'm pulling for Goodyear. You know, it's um you know, really being an American brand. Um I I think we all
30:10 should be pulling for Goodyear to come back and and and return to greatness. Yeah.
30:15 Whatever it may be. So, I'm pulling for him. Um, you know, the marathon thing is really interesting to me. I mean, there
30:22 was, you know, it it was a good seller. Um, you know, it it shows a commitment
30:28 to their their vision for the future to be able to pull a tire that has has
30:34 worked out well for him from a a will position position standpoint.
30:39 You're talking about the Marathon or their their more economy series. Yes. Yeah. That that they're pulling. Well, it it
30:46 shows a commitment for where they need to go. Um, but I still remain you're you
30:52 you basically have every major manufacturing saying, "Hey, we're we're
30:57 not going to play in the tier three space at all anymore and we may not uh even play in the tier 2 space." Um, so
31:05 now you have all of them condensed at the top and it's going to be a race for
31:10 performance. It's going to be a race for performance. And let me ask you this. Does Cooper play um a role in them discontinuing the
31:18 marathon? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And where does that go? Does it stay Cooper, which is another American household
31:25 name? Mhm. Or do they um brand that a different brand or is that the replacement to the
31:31 Dunlop? It's I see it as the replacement to the Dunlop. I would argue that Cooper in
31:37 whether it's retail or commercial uh has a better brand recognition at this point
31:43 than none. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Uh you see that driver that took
31:49 the U-turn in Florida and uh three people passed away. Yeah. That was that was brutal, man. I I
31:56 tell you, I was looking at that online and it just breaks your heart that that we allowed that situation to
32:02 happen. Really what it comes down to is that guy should have never been on the road.
32:09 It is a lot of fingerpointing going on whether it's Florida's fault or the driver or immigration or uh California.
32:19 Um you have details on this exam this guy took? Well, what I read is is the
32:24 part where he, you know, part of the test that he had to take um on his um
32:30 English acrement and and and some other things, he he was two out of 12
32:36 questions correctly, which was a a fill in fill-in mark and and the the whoever
32:42 was given the exam passed him anyways. Was there a standard?
32:48 I don't know if there's a standard, but I'd guess in any situation, the standard is to pass. Yeah. And and I could tell
32:54 you, Joe, from our standpoint is is we have we have drivers that are in the process of getting their commercial
33:00 license to make that next step in their career. And um it's not an easy te test to pass.
33:06 And if they don't pass it, they fail. Yeah. And and and I think the they got to get 70% 75% to pass. How' this guy pass? And
33:14 and that's the question we got to ask. Did did he pass? Because there's,
33:21 you know, there's a lot of polit politics involved in it. You know, we could get into that. It' be fun. Is is it going to be is it going to be
33:28 politicized? Absolutely. It's going to absolutely. Is it going to is it going to make any changes? I mean, he's not the only one.
33:35 Let's Let's face it. We we there's thousands going to be thousands of drivers out there who by certain
33:42 people's standards should perhaps not be on the road. But is this going to change anything
33:50 politically? Maybe. I I I I don't think until people get fed up enough and
33:57 that's what it's going to come down to. And I I think we've seen that in the last last election is people are getting fed up. And um I I think this just adds
34:05 another layer to that is, you know, hey, look, you know, this is somebody's family who who a father or a mother is
34:12 not going to be able to go home to their spouse. They're they're they're their, you know, they're not going to be able to kiss their kids good night. Um that's
34:19 tragic, man. And and that is 100% avoidable. Whether it was an immigration
34:25 flaw or whatever flaw it was, um it should have never happened, you know. And it's um you know for me it's it we
34:32 got to stop it. I mean it it's look if if you can't pass the test you shouldn't
34:38 be able to pass the test. It there there is no you know not everyone gets a
34:43 participation trophy per se. Um it's I don't know. I I it it it gets me fired
34:51 up as you could tell. So I can tell. Yeah. No participation trophies or CDLs.
34:56 Exactly. Unless you can pass. you you follow the rules. I mean, it's um you you know the liabilities from a c company standpoint.
35:03 Yeah. I mean, it's um look, I I'm a big proponent that everyone should have the opportunity to
35:10 make their lives better, no matter where they're born, where they're from, but they should have to follow the same
35:15 rules as everybody else. Yeah. Period. Well, I I can transition it a little
35:20 bit. The the pressure on fleets from a liability standpoint is increasing. Um,
35:27 I think we'll probably be talking about this in a year as you see some of these big cases settle that have been going
35:33 against some of these big carriers. Um, but they're exceeding insurance
35:38 maximums. Yeah. Um, and uh, freight is not in a strong
35:43 position right now to be paying those out or handling those. Um, so between
35:48 drivers and trucks and debris on the road and any sort of interpretation
35:54 operating legally in 50 or 48 different states, it's a huge undertaking.
36:01 Huge. Yeah. So, well, um, I I think we do got to set
36:07 up a uh a podcast for tech. We're getting a lot of questions on tech.
36:12 Where are we at with tech? Um, as tire guys, we seemingly can't go anywhere
36:17 without people asking, "When is there going to be an airless tire? Why don't tires last longer? Where is
36:24 tech at? Why isn't there TPMS in every single tire like there is in my car?"
36:29 Um, so we got to have a tech episode. Any other news we didn't cover today? I think we we we pretty much rounded
36:35 that out. I mean, there's always there's always stuff in the tire business, right? I think, you know, there there's a lot of challenges. There's there's a
36:41 lot of fun stuff. I, you know, I love the challenges myself. Um, I I love the chaos, but it's u um you know, the tech
36:49 tech is um is exciting. I mean, I I'm with you. You know, you brought up um TPMS's. You know, it's um
36:56 just about every car you buy now has them and I think it's mandated. Um when when's that going to happen on
37:01 commercial commercial vehicles, you know, semiis? It's um it should be there. It's a it's a no-brainer.
37:07 It's a no-brainer. Yeah. Okay. Well, uh, that's a wrap for August's news update. We will be back
37:14 next month. Big John, thank you, sir. Appreciate you having me. Love you guys next time. Thanks.
37:22 [Music]
