The focus of this report is on the North American market for tires used on heavy-duty Class 8 trucks, i.e., trucks with a GVWR of 33,000 pounds and over.
The U.S. Class 8 fleet currently totals approximately 2.9 million trucks. Production grew by almost 300,000 vehicles in 2017. This is putting renewed interest on Class 8 trucks, registrations for which are growing almost 3% annually. Motor carriers spent more than $13 billion on tires in 2017, or about 3% of operating costs, which made tires the third largest expense category after labor and fuel last year.
Class 8 truck tires are used in both over-the-road and vocational applications such as refuse, dump and concrete mixer trucks. While these tires represent only 10% of the North American tire market, they comprise the fastest growing segment.
Analysis of the heavy-duty truck tire market in this report includes production numbers; competitive environment and market shares; imports; tire manufacturing technologies, including industry R&D and new product developments; rules, regulations and standards; Federal government projects and budgets; and Chinese collaborations, as well as fuel issues, certifications and other topics relevant to this market.
Profiles of major suppliers of truck tires are included in the report. The market for Class 8 tires in North America is served by only seven remaining domestic producers. Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear are the largest domestic suppliers. In addition, there are more than 25 importers, many of which import product from China.
In addition to addressing tire production directly, the report provides context for this market by providing details on commercial truck production by class; the U.S. truck freight market by mode, volume and value of freight shipments, as well as distances moved and products shipped; data on truck fleet and motor carrier costs, including tire costs; and composition of the U.S. truck fleet in terms of registered vehicles, trucks by type and registrations by state.
Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Companies Mentioned
- Bandag
- Bridgestone Corporation
- Continental Aktiengesellschaft
- Continental JV
- Double Coin
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
- Michelin SCA
- Mississippi Plant
- NexTraq
- Sumitomo Rubber Industries
- Tesloop JV
- The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
- Tire Centers, LLC
- Tire Distribution Systems, Inc.
