The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association expects truck tire shipments to rebound this year after a more sluggish 2023. The trade group projects 22 million replacement truck tires will be shipped in the U.S. in 2024—a 5.9% increase over last year.
“After feeling the freight impacts in 2023 with low spot rates, active utilization, and shipments throughout the year, we are optimistic for an improvement in 2024,” Shaun Uys, VP of truck tires for Continental Tire the Americas, told Modern Tire Dealer, a Fleet Owner affiliate. “Experts are predicting spot rates and active truck utilization to start increasing in 2024. It looks like the market might get to normality.”
MTD recently asked medium-truck tire manufacturers if they think 2024 will be a robust year for truck, bus, and radial tire sales.
“We are expecting a correction versus 2023, but not quite to the all-time highs the market saw in 2022,” Dan Funkhouser, VP of commercial sales for Yokohama Tire Corp., told MTD. “Customers are either adjusting or have finished adjusting their inventories and are ready for a stable, predictable market.
“I believe there is going to be an increase in construction projects due to economic stimulus. This should lead to an increase in mixed-service tire lines,” he continued. “Regional trucking will increase as smaller businesses move from long-haul to shorter regional routes.”
After the significant drop in truck tire sales in 2023, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. sees an upside in the current market. “We know market spot rates are low, as is truck capacity utilization,” noted Joe Stuglis, North America commercial sales senior director for Goodyear.
“Coupled with freight metrics being softer than where they had been in 2021 and 2022, the industry is still in a bit of a correction,” Stuglis explained. “Thailand tariff investigations will certainly cause disruption, and we’ve seen that in the first quarter, as industry volume is up significantly. While there’s anticipation the freight environment will recover in the back half of the year, the industry could continue to ebb and flow as it seeks to find its new equilibrium.”