Lewis General Tires Inc. knows retreading. The family-owned, Rochester, N.Y.-based commercial, consumer and OTR tire dealership – which is celebrating 97 years in business – has been retreading truck tires since The Great Depression. When the time came last year to select a new retread supplier and system, Craig Lewis, the company’s fourth generation owner, said the choice was clear: Goodyear. “We believe that Goodyear’s truck tire casings are the best in the industry,” said Lewis. “I felt that in order to be the best retreader we could be, we had to be aligned with Goodyear.”
Retreads are an important element of Goodyear’s Total Solution, which is designed to help fleets lower their operating costs. The high level of support that Goodyear provides to Lewis General Tires also played a significant role in the decision to become a Goodyear Authorized Retreader. “We became a Goodyear G3X dealer five years ago, and since then, we’ve found Goodyear to be a better fit for our company,” said Lewis. (G3X is Goodyear’s wholesale distribution program for consumer and commercial tire dealerships.)
Lewis General Tires, which also sells Goodyear OTR tires, finished installation of new Goodyear retreading equipment at its plant and produced its first Goodyear retread last month. “There is a huge gap in our market area for Goodyear products,” he said. “A lot of our fleet customers use retreads, but we’re now giving them a retread product that I know, deep down, is the best.” Right now, Lewis General Tires retreads nearly 40 Goodyear truck tires per day. The company plans to ramp up production within the next year as word about the quality of Goodyear retreads spreads among fleets in the greater Rochester area. “Our customers are going to be very happy with the Goodyear product,” said Lewis. “And we’re going to pick up lots of new accounts.”
For more information, visit www.goodyeartrucktires.com.