Piedmont shifts allegiance to Conti, ContiTread brands

GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 2, 2014) — Piedmont Truck Tires Inc. is switching its primary new tire and retread brand allegiance to Continental, severing ties with Goodyear after 14 years as a Goodyear new tire dealer and four as a Goodyear certified retreader.

Piedmont Truck Tires posted a notice on its website July 1 that it was suspending operations at its retread plant in Graham, N.C., in order to convert that facility to the ContiTread retread process. The reconfigured facility is expected to be functional again by mid-July, Piedmont said.

The dealership also now lists Continental, General, Michelin, Sumitomo and Sailun as its featured truck tire brands, along with Solideal industrial tires. The Goodyear brand is no longer listed on the website.

At the same time, Piedmont has opened a full service car and truck tire service shop in Columbia, S.C., its second location in South Carolina and ninth overall. It has six shops in North Carolina and one in Virginia.

Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. said Piedmont's conversion to the ContiTread retread system “solidifies an exciting and mutually beneficial relationship for years to come.” Piedmont has carried Continental-brand new tires for a few years already, Conti noted.

Akron-based Goodyear presaged a move in North Carolina three weeks ago with a press release stating it was preparing to expand its Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Network in the Greensboro, N.C., market, where Piedmont has its headquarters.

Goodyear's release did not mention Piedmont and a company spokesman declined at that time to elaborate on the message.

“North Carolina is home to many commercial trucking fleets, and Greensboro is a very important market for Goodyear,” said Phillip Kane, vice president, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems, at that time. Goodyear operates six company-owned commercial tire service locations in North Carolina and three in South Carolina.

This will be Piedmont's third shift in retreading partners in the past decade. In 2004 it converted to the Michelin Retread Technologies system from being a Bandag Inc. licensee, then moved to Goodyear in 2010 after competitor Snider Tire converted its network of retread plants in the Carolinas to the Michelin system.

Goodyear named Piedmont its commercial tire dealer of the month in December 2011.

Piedmont Truck Tires started out in 1978 as a subsidiary of Piedmont Ford Truck Sales in Greensboro, N.C., a small truck tire center doing work primarily for the truck dealership's customers.

In 1984 a new management team consisting of Jim Rice, Mitch Glover and Dan Rice was formed for Piedmont Truck Tires. That new team—all of whom continue today as owners—grew the company steadily into its current configuration, serving customers throughout the Carolinas and Virginia.