Penn Tires pushes value with Transporter commercial line

LAS VEGAS — Wholesale tire distributor Penn Tires is focusing its new Transporter TBR line of commercial tires on the U.S. market.

The Transporter TBR — built by third-party manufacturers in Turkey and Vietnam — was designed for U.S. fleets driving on U.S. roads, according to Penn Tires President David Penn.

While commercial tires designed for a global market must place a greater emphasis on how a tire handles overloaded freight, building one specifically for the U.S. market creates a good avenue for growth, especially on the Tier 3 market, Mr. Penn said.

"We have created a tire line that has two great aspects," Mr. Penn said. "First, it's a product designed by Americans for Americans. Second, people who buy tires don't often get input on how they are made."

Not so with the Transporter TBR, Mr. Penn added.

The company focused on maximizing value, specifically original tire tread wear, retreadability and fuel efficiency. Even treadwear is the point where they add the most value to consumers, the company said.

"Once a tire is worn down in just one point, it has to be removed. If the tread wear isn't even, you're leaving money on the table by not wearing out all of the rubber," said Mark Mineur, vice president in charge of tire technology at Penn Tires. "We constructed the tire to wear even from shoulder to shoulder so all the grooves will wear at the same time."

After 40 years designing tires, Mr. Mineur, a former Goodyear engineer, said "the tires that are the best are the ones designed for the specific market that it's going to run in."

Because many Tier 3 commercial brands are designed for a global market, Mr. Mineur explains, they are much heavier than they need to be for U.S. roads, because they are reinforced to handle overloading.

"In reality, (U.S. trucking) is the fastest market," Mr. Mineur said of driving speed. "And when you're running hot anyway, having all of that extra (tire) weight will give you an uneven treadwear."

In the tire construction, the company used what Mr. Mineur called a "triple prime" system of 47 pitches — 11 segments at five lengths to prevent any pattern of uneven wear at highway speeds.

Hopkins, Minn-based Penn Tires started shipping the tire earlier this year with two models: the AP268 all-position tire and the TR402 closed-shoulder drive tire.

The line features six sizes with plans for more than 20 in the future. The company indicated that an open-shoulder version would be added to the line along with some mix-service/OTR products.

Penn Tires will offer service after sale, with a two retread guarantee.

"The two retread guarantee was really important to us," Mr. Mineur said. "We have taken some steps to account for that and made changes to the processing of the rubber to make sure there are no chemicals in there that interfere with the retread process."

Mr. Mineur, speaking via phone while overseeing production in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, said the manufacturing plant has been responsive to their objectives.

"We've added a new mixing process, and they have really let us do what we need to do," Mr. Mineur said, adding the relationship allows the company to continually evolve the product as the market dictates.

Penn Tires did not identify its manufacturing partners. The AP268 is priced at $361 and the TR402 is priced at $407 on SimpleTire.com.

By sourcing from Turkey and Vietnam, the importer/wholesale distributor avoids the elevated import duties impacting tires from China.