Managing the tire pressure and tread levels for hundreds — if not thousands — of tires across a corporate fleet of vehicles can be a lot to handle.
That’s why Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., with its headquarters based in Akron, launched a program this summer to take the work off companies’ hands.
Since June, Goodyear’s new Tires-as-a-Service program has taken over the management of approximately 10,000 vehicles for 10 clients, said Michelle Ross, the head of sales and marketing for the project. And it’s growing exponentially.
“There are quite a few people we’re talking to,” Ross said of the program, which has been in the works since 2022. “We obviously think this will be a big, big way to do business in the future. We don’t think we’ll be the only game in town.”
The tire subscription model is only available for commercial fleets. It’s managed through an existing FleetHQ program that uses tire-mounted sensors to monitor pressure, tread level and other tire variables, Ross said. It’s used for commercial trucks and last-mile delivery vans and is expected to improve safety and lower the cost of ownership.
As part of the program, Goodyear not only monitors tires, but schedules and performs services on behalf of the fleet, ensuring tires are changed, patched or inflated whenever there’s an issue.
Helping fleets manage tires on a schedule
For now, the company’s clients are split between the U.S. and Europe. Goodyear would not identify clients or make them available to speak about the program, but sent a testimonial video from Eychenne, a transportation company based in France. In it, owner Olivier Eychenne said the company had difficulty managing the tires in its fleet on a consistent schedule.
Goodyear’s solution “completely meets those needs,” Eychenne said, according to a subtitled English translation of the French video. The testimonial also said Goodyear’s efforts help Eychenne anticipate tire punctures and warn drivers that they need to get service. And they extend the life of tires by keeping them at an optimal pressure.
Why is this important? Ross said improperly inflated tires are responsible for the majority of fleet accidents on the road.
The tire subscription program, she said, is expected to reduce annual accidents and breakdowns caused by improper tire inflation by up to 80 percent — a sizable benefit if the goal is to deliver goods on time.
“It takes tire management off their plates,” Ross said. “We help manage something really important to the fleet.”
Other companies offer monitoring services, Ross added, but clients must act on those notifications themselves.
Bridgestone’s offering, known as Fleet Care, provides a real-time monitoring subscription that offers up-to-the-minute information about the status of tires, Bridgestone Mobility Solutions senior marketing manager Justin Cocchiola said in an email.
“This proactive approach enables monitoring of tire pressure and temperature to help prevent issues before they lead to costly downtime,” Cocchiola wrote. “Taking our proactive approach a step further, Bridgestone Fleet Care can be integrated into our dealer partners’ service offerings. This drives efficiencies in yard-check processes and enhances the ability to monitor and assess fleet tire health as part of a comprehensive managed tire program.”
But Ross said Goodyear’s offering is differentiated by using the company’s store partners and employees to handle upkeep on the companies’ tires, keeping a fleet manager from getting “alert fatigue” and failing to act on the notifications.
Ross said Goodyear’s enhanced involvement helps make Goodyear a partner instead of just the seller of tires.
“It’s a good way to build loyalty and brand stickiness,” she said. “That is part of the calculus.”
Increased reliability a draw of subscription tire program
Leasing tires is common for transit companies, said Jarrod Hampshire, the chief operations officer of Summit County’s Metro Regional Transit Authority. After all, tracking six tires across 200 buses can be “chaotic,” Hampshire added.
METRO uses a pay-by-the-mile lease program that isn’t Goodyear’s Tires-as-a-Service program, but shares commonalities with it. Hampshire said Goodyear has someone working on the contract 40 hours a week and piloted the tread and air pressure monitors with METRO that help catch any issues before there is a failure on the road.
“Any kind of monitoring system you have that takes the onus out of drivers’ hands to ensure reliability is a good thing,” he said. “It’s one less thing to keep a truck from making its full trip.”
Hampshire estimated METRO saved a couple hundred thousand dollars a year by not managing the tire program itself. He also said it’s better for Goodyear not to have tires with their names on them on the highway in pieces because of a blowout.
“There’s no safe way a tire blows out,” he said. “You’re inherently putting someone in danger.”
Ross, with Goodyear, said reducing downtime and improving fuel economy are among the reasons fleets choose to use the system. She said the subscription service is expected to be a big part of the company’s business going forward.
Goodyear is in the midst of a restructuring plan, called Goodyear Forward, that includes thousands of layoffs. More than 200 jobs at the company’s Akron headquarters will be eliminated or moved, the company has already announced. Goodyear Forward is needed to create a more cost-efficient organizational structure, improve profitability and position itself for long-term success, the company said.
Ross would not provide information about the Tires-as-a-Service program’s cost to clients, saying it was unique to each fleet. She said it’s a “tiny” piece of the business now, with fewer than 20 employees, but one where Goodyear hopes to be a leader.
“This is definitely a growth area for us,” she said. “We expect in 10 years’ time, this will be a primary way fleets are purchasing tires.”