Like most other aspects of life, the commercial truck tire market hasn’t been immune to the impacts of COVID-19.
One of the biggest shifts resulting from the pandemic is the rise in last-mile deliveries. As e-commerce sales and home deliveries spiked, delivery trucks and vans made more trips, resulting in more wear-and-tear on their tires.
“With the growth of last-mile delivery, compounded by the effects of COVID-19, commercial fleets are purchasing more tires for light- and medium-duty commercial trucks,” said Thomas Stacey, B2B product category manager - urban & regional for Michelin North America. “Grocery fleets, for example, are adding cargo vans to their fleets for home deliveries, adding 16-inch LT-metric and C-metric dimensions to their tire needs.”
Rob Williams, vice president of U.S. TBR sales for Hankook Tire America Corp., said sales have risen to such an extent, that they are outpacing other segments.
“We see the light- and medium-duty commercial vehicle tire market growing faster than heavy-duty truck?tires, due to the significant growth in delivery of goods driven by the increase in e-commerce sales amid the pandemic,” he said.
The increase in online sales and home deliveries has changed buyer behavior for the long term, which means the need for last-mile deliveries and the tires to support them is here to stay.
Luka Lojk, VP of sales and marketing for Tyrata, noted that “increased tire consumption will also drive a need for more effective tire utilization, and new business models that are enabled by effective tire data and monitoring.”
With the critical role commercial fleets have played in keeping essential goods and services moving, Bridgestone Americas anticipates the last-mile segment to continue to grow at an accelerated rate.
“On demand, same-day delivery and the increasing preference of shoppers to have goods delivered straight to their homes have resulted in a growing number of traditional and non-traditional fleets supporting the final step in the consumer purchase journey. In fact, it’s estimated that smaller fleets make up about 75% of the market,” said Kyle Chen, channel manager for fleet and original equipment truck & bus radial tires at Bridgestone Americas. “This shift has had an impact on the commercial tire offering for these fleets with vehicles getting smaller but requiring higher load capacities. We’ve also seen a need for smaller commercial tires in the 16- to 19.5-inch range.”
Walter Weller, sr. vice president at Double Coin, said he is also seeing an increase in 17.5- and 19.5-inch rim diameter tires in the commercial market.?
“With users such as FedEx, UPS, and Amazon pioneering this segment, there is more interest in using tires in these sizes that are suitable for retreading, which have all-steel casings,” Weller said.
Tom Fanning, vice president of sales and marketing for truck tires in North America at Continental, said the conditions delivery truck and van fleets operate in also change the traits fleets look for in tires.
“In last-mile delivery, tires are often subjected to high scrub environments, with lots of twisting and turning on city streets. This requires a cut-and-chip resistant tread compound to deliver the expected mileage. City driving means curbs, so a reinforced sidewall is a necessity,” he said. “Fleets looking to achieve their lowest overall driving cost should look for a retreadable casing. With an all-steel casing, fleets can retread the original tire to drive down costs over the tire lifecycle.”
While tire sales in the last-mile segment have increased, other segments are experiencing the opposite trend. For instance, public transportation took a hit as people quarantined and/or worked from home.
“According to statistics from Transit App, nationwide subway and bus ridership demand has dropped by 75% versus normal conditions. Washington D.C. has reported declines of 60% and New York City declines of 80% regarding public bus transportation, with other transit systems reporting similar declines in large cities across America,” Fanning said. “Many cities are also limiting the number of buses in use due to COVID-19 and the declining demand. The low ridership and lessened public bus transportation will certainly be felt in the urban segment of commercial tire replacement.”
Source: https://www.worktruckonline.com/10154519/state-of-the-commercial-truck-tire-market-in-2022
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