For the last several years, the one word that constantly comes up in conversations about the tire business is supply–No. 1 getting the tires, and No. 2, getting the ones you need. Inflation has caused logistics and transportation costs to rise, and we’re still seeing port congestion and other ripple effects from COVID shutdowns and bottlenecks. Yet, there are a few bright spots that linger in the distance, despite the disruption we’ve seen over the past few years.

To dive into the topic of supply chain disruption, we spoke with Art Mayer, a contract writer and consultant that’s president of Zephyr Research Partners, which covers a wide range of topics in the tire industry. Art has years of experience in the industry working in a variety of roles for Dealer Tire and serving as a researcher for Smithers. He has previously been a speaker at Smithers’ Traction conferences, covering the emerging areas of sensors and intelligent tires. Recently, he wrote a Smithers report titled, “The Impact of Supply Chain Disruption on the Tire Industry.

In this interview, Art delves into:

- The myriad of factors affecting the tire supply chain today. (1:00)
- A silver lining that may come in the second part despite this being the “worst supply chain disruption in 50 years.” (5:46)
- How manufacturers are changing supply strategies to adapt to the climate (8:09)
- How consolidation in the tire distribution and manufacturing channel impacts supply chain (9:26)
- The context of tire supply in the greater supply chain challenges for the automotive industry, including the semiconductor shortage (11:38)
- How EV sales and other future mobility trends are affecting supply and could speed up the adoption of tire management solutions and fleet ownership (15:00)
- How efforts to sustainably source raw materials and manufacture tires have increased and how supply chain challenges played a role (17:14)
- How the Russian war in Ukraine impacts the tire supply chain (19:10)

Listen to the audio podcast here or subscribe on:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-treading-with-tire-review/id1470309726

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GA3lp6AFo7V7EEG5awHaE

Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iv76bs6re7unom4p76myj3cakhm