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WORLD NEWS
Community Tire Invests in Unicure System to Benefit from Growth in OTR Sector
Michael W Berra, CEO with son Mike Berra Jr at Community Tires plant in St Louis
St Louis, Missouri based retreader Community Tire says it has invested over $6 million in developing its ‘Unicure’ bead-to - bead radial retread system for the OTR sector in a bid to benefit from growth in the OTR tyre market.
“The US economy has shown signs of recovery recently and we have seen growth in the OTR market,” commented Michael W Berra, CEO, Community Tire, during a recent visit to the company’s headquarters. “We hope this will impact positively on tyre volumes, and industry experts are certainly forecasting positive numbers for truck and OTR tyres this year,” he added. According to Berra and his son, Mike Berra Jr, President, Community Tire has been looking closely at opportunities for growth in the OTR segment especially in markets where the company does not currently have regular routes in place. Community Tire’s customer base is primarily in the middle of the
US (North & South to the Canadian and Mexican border). “We also continue to update and expand our product offering,” added Berra Jr. There are a few new sizes that are beginning to gain wheel positions (875-65R-29 as an example), and we will purchase additional moulds to accommodate tyres that are in our customer's market. Community Tire began retreading radial tyres bead to bead for the off-road market back in 1987 when it began retreading tyres bead to bead for the
US Military. The move into this market was made primarily in response to the mission profile of the tyres, and the fact that the equipment sat idle for long periods in outdoor conditions. The sidewall of these tyres would show significant weather checking that the company felt needed to be addressed for a second tread life.
“We have always been 100% mould cure for OTR tyres,” explained Mike Berra, Jr. “When
we began seeing the radialisation of the OTR market in the late 1980's, we researched our options. We knew that with the characteristics of radial tyres, the challenge would be getting the casing to last through a second (possibly additional) tread life. We believed that retreading the tyres bead to bead in segment moulds, mirroring the way new tyres are produced, would be the best vehicle for allowing the tyre/casing to last through the next tread life. While there are significant challenges with running various different brands of casings, and thus properly sizing moulds, we forged ahead and purchased our first two CIMA presses and moulds in
retreads around 35 earthmover tyres and 135 truck, light truck and industrial tyres per day. The company retreads truck tyres for the vehicles of the US postal service but specialises in retreading OTR radials (although it also retreads a number of bias tyres for the OTR market) and operates using a wholesale model. With this in mind, we asked the father and son team in charge of the company about the thinking behind the decision to work in this way, and what challenges it brings. In particular we asked how the company dealt with the challenge of influencing dealers to promote and actively sell retreads when they come up against budget new tyres.
A view of the Community Tire retread plant
1994. Today, we have 11
CIMA RP presses for sizes 1200R- 20 through 2700R-49 with 29 moulds covering 17 sizes.
“When we started with our Unicure system, we were the only retreader in North America retreading OTR tires bead to bead,” he added. “While there have been a few companies
who have started
manufacturing bead to bead retreads in North America, no one has our range of sizes and tread designs. We feel strongly our system has given our customer base a distinct advantage over other retread systems in both looks and performance. Our advantage has been further magnified in recent years as MSHA has increased its focus on safety in mining, especially as it relates to tyres that can be flagged for out of service conditions.”
Currently, Community Tire
Mike Berra Jr explained; “My grandfather started our company in 1935 after selling his share in a Sinclair Gas Station. Throughout our history, Community Tire has been involved in all aspects of the tyre business (commercial, retail, wholesale, service, etc). In the late 1960's, we chose to get out of the service business and focus solely on retreading tyres for the wholesale market. We constantly strive to educate our customer base on the advantages of our product offering, but realize this is an area that we can always improve. It is a challenge, yes, but also gives our customers the knowledge they will not be competing with us on the service/resale side.
“In 2009, through a trial
from Central Marketing, we invested in a Shearography machine for OTR tyres,” he continued. For us, this was an additional piece in our quest to
New CIMA press – RP7
48 Retreading Business