Black’s Tire Opens New Retread Plant In Clarkton, N.C.

WHITEVILLE, N.C., Dec. 14, 2009 ‘ Black’s Tire Commercial Division recently opened a new 50,000 square-foot retread plant and commercial distribution center in Clarkton, N.C.

The new facility replaces another, smaller plant in Clinton, N.C., and can produce up to 225 different truck tire retreads from 16-inch to 24.5-inch wheel diameters. Black’s Tire also has 18 commercial tire and service locations in North Carolina and South Carolina, where it offers a variety of new commercial tires under several brands, including Goodyear, Kelly and Dunlop. The retreading plant currently retreads about 100 truck tires per day, but plans to expand that number through customer growth.

‘New retreading equipment, state-of-the-art tire management technology and more storage capability at our new retread plant and distribution center will allow us to offer a new level of cradle-to-grave tire service,” said Ricky Benton Sr., owner of the Whiteville, N.C.-based business. ‘With this new facility, we can help truck operators reduce their costs.”

Black’s Tire serves a variety of fleets and truck operators involved in long haul and regional haul applications.

Pat Demianenko, national sales manager for Goodyear Retread Systems, said Goodyear is pleased to see the new Black’s Tire facility go into service.

‘Black’s Tire has more than 80 years of experience in the tire business,” Demianenko said. ‘This new plant represents a substantial investment by the company in producing quality retreads and providing customers great service well into the 21st Century. And by utilizing a lean manufacturing concept in its design and layout, Black’s Tire will be able to consistently produce high-quality retreads.”

Jeremy Benton, one of Ricky’s three sons and manager of the new retread plant, said through the lean manufacturing concept, the layout of the shop and the placement of the equipment have been optimized so that employees can process retreads more quickly and efficiently. Since the new Clarkton location also has additional warehouse space and more covered space for scrap tires, Black’s Tire Commercial Division can offer fleets enhanced mounted tire programs and detailed scrap tire analysis. They also have warehouse stack racks added to the space for future usage.

‘Our goal is to help our customers see the value and quality that Goodyear retreading can offer,” Jeremy added. ‘It’s also a great way for our customers to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach to their fleet operations because the retreading process allows them to reuse the tire casing.”

According to the Tire Retreading Information Bureau, it takes about 22 gallons of oil to manufacture a new truck tire. Most of the oil is found in the casing, which is reused in the retreading process. As a result, retread production consumes about 7 gallons of oil.

The retreading plant produces tires using Goodyear’s Precure and patented UniCircle(R) retreading processes.

‘We’re excited about being able to offer customers retreading for new Goodyear tires that incorporate Goodyear’s Fuel Max Technology and Goodyear’s DuraSeal Technology,” Jeremy added. ‘It offers us the opportunity to offer customers even greater value with their tire programs.”

Fuel Max Technology uses an innovative compound that helps reduce rolling resistance and helps provide many fleets improved fuel economy of up to 4 percent. DuraSeal Technology is the world’s first built-in tire sealant for commercial truck applications. A gel-like rubber compound instantly seals punctures up to 1/4-inch in diameter in the repairable area of the tread.  It does not seal sidewall punctures.

Goodyear also has new tire models, such as the Goodyear G661 HSA and G662 RSA, which address the needs of multiple urban and regional applications ‘ city delivery, beverage, emergency vehicles and buses. The new regional tires offer deeper treads, enhanced tread designs and scrub-resistant compounds to help maximize tire life.

Goodyear commercial tire systems offer complete products and services to the trucking and bus industries, including a full range of original equipment and replacement tires. In addition, the company offers fleetHQ business solutions to fleets of all sizes.  This includes the 24/7 fleetHQ Solution Center, national programs, tire management tools, online information access and business problem-solving for tomorrow’s trucking fleets. For more information on Goodyear’s commercial tires, go to http://www.goodyear.com/truck .