U.S. sees uptick in commercial tire prices

As 2018 comes to an end and raw material costs rise, major tire manufacturers have put price increases into effect for truck and bus tires customers across the U.S. 

Bridgestone, Cooper, Goodyear, Kumho Tire and Michelin have all instated increases before the close of the year.

"Our recently announced price adjustment partially off-sets rising business costs such as increased costs for oil and other raw materials used in the production of synthetic rubber," Paul Oakley, Bridgestone America's vice president of communications, said. "Our customers are familiar with these market dynamics."

Effective in early November, Bridgestone announced a 10 percent increase for its National Account, National Fleet and National Fleet Preferred account prices, along with Firestone truck and bus radial tires and Bandag retreads and tire-related services.

"We are closely monitoring changes in the commodity market and evaluating the cost of doing business," Oakley told Fleet Maintenance. "We will continue to take steps as needed to ensure we can continue to provide our customers with the products they need in a competitive market."

Michelin North America will increase all commercial brands, products and services by 8 percent in December, followed closely by a 5 percent increase for light duty truck tires of the Michelin, BFGoodrich and UniRoyal brands taking effect Jan. 1, 2019.

In October, both Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. and Kumho Tire increased their light duty truck tire prices. Cooper by 4 percent, and Kumho by 6 percent. Kumho Tire's price increase will also effect its medium duty truck tires.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. also upped it's prices, with a 3 percent increase on select consumer tire lines in September, attributing it to rising costs of production.

[Editor's note: When reached for comment, Cooper Tire officials said they do not typically comment on pricing activity.]