TCi Tire Centers adds locations

TCi Tire Centers, the leader for tires, service and technology, has announced the opening of two new commercial centers in Texas: one in Houston, the other in Harlingen.

Both centers are full-service facilities offering fleets new tires, retreads, preventative maintenance, emergency road service and alignment capabilities.

“In order to offer our Texas-based fleet customers the product and services they need, TCi has explored the growth potential in these areas and believes strongly that adding these locations is beneficial to those fleets,” says Guy Pekle, president and chief executive officer of TCi.

“Texas has been one of our focus areas around the country where we have been looking to add density,” adds Nate Kirian, vice president of marketing and sales, TCI Commercial Tire Division. With the two new centers, TCI now has 10 commercial centers in Texas.

Both facilities are fully staffed with experience personnel and have the capabilities to provide a full range of tires - including Michelin, BF Goodrich, Yokohama and Sumitomo, plus a complete line of MRTI pre-mold and custom-mold retreads, as well as a broad offering of fleet services and solutions.

The Houston center, located at Highway 225 and Pasadena Freeway, began operations April 15. Located just off Expressway 83, the Harlingen center is expected to officially open May 2.

Business growth

The new centers are a continuation of TCi’s growth plans, says Pekle, because the company is optimistic about trucking’s future. “The trucking industry is rebounding nicely after several very difficult years.”

Kirian notes that TCi has seen an increased interest in retreads, as well as growth in its retread business, as fleets try to better utilize their assets.

Value added

A key difference of TCi is “our value proposition to help fleets reduce their operating costs through quality services,” says Kirian.

A part of this value proposition is TCi’s belonging to Michelin’s Commercial Tire Service Network, which expands its capabilities, especially for fleets that operate regionally and nationally. This is a franchise network of commercial tire dealers committed to offering consistent service with highly trained technicians, professional equipment and casing management, all ensured by rigorous certification and audit standards, he says.

Another element is “state-of-the-art trucking asset tools that help fleets to manage extremely well their assets and, ultimately, reduce costs,” adds Pekle.

“Now, more than in the past, fleets are looking to us to be a true, one-stop tire solutions provider, Kirian says. “They don’t want us to just drop off tires. They want us to help them work on what can be done to obtain maximum value from their tires.”

Key information

To that end, both Kirian and Pekle note that TCi is also working on the information side of the business, which “is equally important to the product side.”

By way of example, Kirian points to TCi’s Customer Information Center. “It’s a very user friendly online resource where customers can get all types of information about their account, including purchasing or billing reports, spend history, scrap rates, information tires in our retread plants and much more.”

Earlier this year, TCI introduced its propriety Track My Tread program. Another online tool, it “provides tracking of tires from cradle-to-grave for the entire lifecycle of a tire for a true overall cost per mile or hour of not just the tread but the casing itself,” he says.

Track My Tread provides TCi customers complete asset accountability, streamlined maintenance shop operations, automated inventory replenishment and true total lifecycle costs.

“There is a clear need from fleets today for good information,” says Pekle. “We not only help our customers obtain information, we help them process that information in a smart way to help them make sound business decisions that reduce their costs.

Michelin subsidiary

Headquartered in Duncan, SC, TCi Tire Centers became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Michelin North America 11 years ago as part of Michelin’s plan to increase its market share.

TCi is comprised of two divisions: distribution and commercial. The distribution division serves passenger and light truck tire retailers through 78 distribution centers across the country.

TCi supports its truck and earthmover customers from its 64 commercial centers located throughout the United States.

The company also operates multiple state-of-the-art Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) plants throughout the country.