A Heads-Up on Goodyear - Montana Owners Club

LonnieB · 12-20-2006, 03:17 AM

Most of you may already know this, but for those that don't, here is a little information on Goodyear passenger and light truck tires.

Goodyear has gone on strike, and it looks like it may last awhile. No passenger or light truck tires are being produced, so the tires in the warehouses, at the distributors, and at the dealers, are all there is. When production starts again, there will in all likelyhood, be a tremendous backlog of orders, meaning availability will be poor, at best.

If any of you are going to need Goodyear tires in the near future, you may want to go ahead and get them, if at all possible. If not you may have to buy another brand.

As things progress, I will try to stay on top of it, and keep you all posted.

bsmeaton · 12-20-2006, 04:19 AM

Lonnie - That's going to hurt business. Sorry to hear that.

LonnieB · 12-20-2006, 04:37 AM

Hello Brad,

I don't think it will hurt us much, I don't sell many Goodyear tires anyway. I do sell Multi Mile, which was made by Goodyear, but they were going to discontinue them after the first quarter of next year anyway, along with all the other private brands they mfgr. I will just go to another brand for the lower end tires.

I do thank you for your concern though.

indy roadrunner · 12-20-2006, 10:30 AM

Lonnie, from my inside sources, I don't think Goodyear Tire will survive this strike. When we were over at the International Harvester Truck plant last month, they were already stocking up on Goodyear competors tires. My company has cancelled it's contract with Goodyear and split their order up amongst 2 other companies Bridgestone and Michilan. Here in the racing capital there is already talk of racing cars changing sponsers and tire companies. Rumors is some foreign company might wind up buying Goodyear out.

LonnieB · 12-20-2006, 10:37 AM

I've heard the same thing Indy, Sumitomo would be the foriegn company in question. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Titan has already bought the Goodyear Ag line, and Titan has a pretty poor reputation in the ag industry.

bsmeaton · 12-20-2006, 10:50 AM

Glad to hear it won't have much of an impact Lonnie - don't wish that on anybody. My auto shop is a Goodyear tire center and I've worked with them for years. I hope it doesn't close them down (private owned). They have jumped through hoops for me, especially on that Montana.

Snowed in here - 24". Bad part is all the STORES CLOSED!

. Still got Christmas shopping to do

.

LonnieB · 12-20-2006, 11:19 AM

Brad, I hope your friend survives the Goodyear thing. It could get pretty rough.

Sorry to hear about the snow closed stores. 24", ouch, we only wound up with about 3" and 3/4" ice under that. Kinda slippery in places.

haslcs · 12-20-2006, 11:48 AM

Lonnie goodyear is producing tires with replacement workers. they are giving them one to two weeks training. when i built tires it was a three month training to build quality tires. if i was to buy a goodyear tire now i would look for the build date. i would not buy any built after Oct. 5. goodyear and the union are back at the barganing table this week. hope they get it settled.

sreigle · 12-20-2006, 11:50 AM

We had dinner in Topeka, KS, last week with former neighbors. Ron is retired from SW Bell and now works for a personnel agency. He is working heavy overtime hiring temps for Goodyear to replace the striking workers. Just an fyi.

DONnANNIE · 12-20-2006, 12:57 PM

Lonnie with the Goodyear problem, what brand would you recommend for the Montana and Silverado? Don't mean to put you on the spot, just curious.

LonnieB · 12-20-2006, 01:35 PM

Thanks Howard, and Steve, for the FYI. All the information I have comes from my distributors, and although I don't have any reason to disbelieve any of them, evidently I'm not getting the whole story.
If Goodyear is still producing tires, with people that aren't properly trained, they are taking on a tremendous liability. I find it hard to believe they would leave themselves so vulnerable. If they are in financial trouble, bad enough to sell the Ag line, surely they would do all they can to ensure the highest quality possible in the passenger and light truck division. A class action lawsuit would surely wipe them out at this point.
Am I thinking about this wrong?

haslcs · 12-20-2006, 02:10 PM

Lonnie goodyear here in union city tn. Goodyear has hired about 300 replacement workers. they bring them in in charterd bus's so they don't have to drive through the picket lines. so far they are not producing that manny tires only about 3000 a day. the plant when fully stafed produces around 55000 a day. this is the info. i got from one of my x formans.

Hemlockusa · 12-20-2006, 02:30 PM

Your right Lonnie. I don't think any company would subject themself to the possiblility of law suite's, not in this day and age. Look at what happened to FIRESTONE... They are hiring temps for the Goodyear plant in Topeka, but I wouldn't think they would be building anything that would take them to court. They build a lot of earthmoving tire's here and also tire's for humvees.... safe travels John

LonnieB · 12-20-2006, 02:38 PM

Hello Don,

Even without Goodyear being in the shape they are in, I recommend the following tires for the TV. These are not in any particular order except Michelin, and they are pretty much available everywhere in the country.

Michelin LTX M/S
Michelin LTX A/S
TOYO Open Country A/T
TOYO Open Country H/T
Bridgestone Dueller Revo A/T
BF Goodrich KO/TA
BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A
BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A
Cooper Discoverer ATR
Goodyear Wrangler A/T

As far as the Montana is concerned, any of the above will do the job just fine. You might consider replacing the TV tires while they are still in good condition, and put the tires off of it, on the Montana.

I don't mind being put on the spot, cause I know if I am wrong, someone will gladly straighten me out,

.

Bill and Ann · 12-21-2006, 04:13 AM

Lonnie: for info. There is a very large Goodyear Plant in Napanee, Ontario which is one of Goodyear's largest producing plants. It is not involved in the U.S. strike.

LonnieB · 12-21-2006, 02:32 PM

Bill, thanks for the info.
You are correct about the Canadian plant being in full production, however, most of the tires produced there are for foriegn export. Very few come to the U.S.
I spent some time on the phone today with a couple of my distributors. One sells a lot of private label tires made by Goodyear, to tire dealers ( myself included ). The other sells a lot of Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone/Firestone, and BF Goodrich to tire dealers ( myself included ). As I stated before, I don't sell many Goodyear tires, but I sell a lot of tires made by them under private label. Neither of these people have anything to gain by giving me false information.
These people are looking for the strike to end by the first part of Februrary, with Goodyear being in full production by the end of Februrary. The United Steel Workers Union has requested the Federal Government intervene and break the strike so they can go back to work. The .50 on the dollar wage they are making, is about to end, and they will be making nothing. These same people believe this will happen, as the Federal Government has contracts with Goodyear for tires that are not being produced.
I ( along with others ) was concerned with quality control, and asked about replacement workers not being sufficiently trained. I was told the replacement workers will not be building passenger or light truck tires, and when Goodyear resumes full production, it will be with the same experienced and qualified personnel that are now on strike. Their quality control standards will be much higher than in the past, and will be regulated more like Bridgestone/Firestone is now. This is what the Goodyear company wants, and is the reason they are re-structuring the way they produce tires. They are not doing away with all the private label tires, they are incorporating them into 2 or 3 brands, rather than 20 or 30 brands, meaning they should have a better handle on the quality of the tires they produce. This is good for them, and good for us as the end user.
I'm sorry this is so long, and I still may not have the whole story, but I have relayed all I know.

sreigle · 12-22-2006, 02:15 PM

Lonnie, is there a website that lists all the brands made by Goodyear? Thanks.

Hemlockusa · 12-22-2006, 03:13 PM

The work on the Topeka New this evening indicated that there was going to be a buy out of the employee's at the plant they wanted to close and a settlement is just around the corner. OF COURSE TOPEKA is not noted for accurate news very often... safe travels John

haslcs · 12-22-2006, 03:21 PM

LONNIE Goodyear has reached a tenitive agreement with the union. and will vote on it next week. if the ratifie it they will go back to work after the first of the year.

LonnieB · 12-23-2006, 01:59 AM

Things seem to be looking up a bit. I hope, for the employees and their families, this gets settled soon.

Steve, I don't know of a website that lists the brands Goodyear makes, but I will see if I can find where to go. I know they make Kelly, Remington, Multi Mile, Winston, and many others.

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