Magazine for the professional tire industry
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MTD December 2016 Heavy-duty alignment opportunity: Technology creates new ways to market and profit from the service By Ann Neal I mproved tire wear and beer fuel efficiency are the benefits of a properly aligned commercial truck. Yet many operators neglect alignments, according to major tire equipment manufacturers who estimate that up to 70% of commercial vehicles need the service. "It's always been interesting to me that in the heavy-duty world we've got the most expensive tires, the highest number of tires per vehicle, the most weight on those tires, and the tires running the most miles, but alignment has never been in the forefront like it is in automotive," says Don Glaser, heavy- duty alignment product manager at Hunter Engineering Co. But technological advances have made the process of aligning a truck efficient and profitable. Manufacturers say their newest equipment is capable of checking a truck's alignment in less than five minutes and performing the service on a 3-axle truck in as lile as 30 minutes. Simpler than cars e installation of a heavy-duty aligner in the summer of 2015 was a big step for family-owned Tire Tread Service Inc., whose employees were mounting and dismounting truck tires by hand just 18 months earlier. e new alignment machine capped a year of heavy-duty equipment purchases at the five-bay shop in Fredericksburg, Va. e Hunter brand aligner was the shop's third major invest- ment in heavy-duty service equipment in a 12-month period. Owner Chris Barne had already bought a heavy-duty tire changer and heavy-duty balancer, also from Hunter. Commercial services are helping Barne combat increased retail competition, especially with two new Goodyear outlets in his market. He says he "grew into" heavy-duty alignment, adding the service in order to be a one-stop shop for his commercial customers. Tire Tread Service was founded by Barne's grandfather, Isaac Bourne, in 1945. Barne, his brother, and his parents own the shop today, with a nephew, Kyle, learning the busi- ness. Barne's brother, Kevin Cooper, has done passenger car alignments for 25 years. "He grew into the heavy-duty side, too," says Barne. "HD alignment is actually simpler than cars because there are not as many changes and variances as in cars." A truck alignment is possibly one of the highest-paying services a commercial dealer can perform, according to Nick McCullough. He is president of Rav America, the North American division of Ravaglioli SpA, which was acquired by Downers Grove, Ill.-based Dover Corp. in October 2016. "A properly aligned truck reduces two of a fleet's highest operating costs: tires and fuel," he says. "at makes alignment services for heavy-duty vehicles one of the most important and most lucrative services the commercial tire dealer can offer." Speedco Inc. provides quick lube and tire services for the trucking industry through a national network of 52 outlets. e Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC subsidiary began piloting a heavy-duty alignment service at select locations in mid-2016 using equipment from Ravaglioli. "In early 2016, we introduced the Heavy Duty Interstate Battery line," says J. Downey, vice president of sales and business development at Speedco. "e addition of the free baery tests and a replacement offering was met with great enthusiasm from our fleet and owner-operator customers." e company wanted to build on that success and began to explore other services, according to Downey. "As we continue to look for ways to beer serve our customers, the addition of alignment services helps them protect their tire investment. Our alignment service offering fits into our preventative Heavy-duty alignment Hunter says quick alignment checks are a high-profit preventative maintenance sales tool. Hunter's system pro- vides alignment readings on the entire truck at a glance. 44