Trail Tire, which is located in Dundee, Ohio, credits a lot of its booming ag tire sales to the community it serves. Joel Martin, manager of ag/ commercial sales and tire service for Trail Tire, also says being flexible with customers and partners is a big part of the company’s success.
Founded in 2012 by Dirk Vissen Jr., Trail Tire serves customers throughout central Ohio with around 25 employees, three service trucks and five bays.
Martin says Trail Tire has seen an increase in its ag tire sales every year since the company has been in business.
He predicts the ag tire market will continue to grow in 2023.
“Demand is not letting up and I think it’s partly to do with this area,” says Martin. “We do a lot of ag tires.”
And the company’s truck tire sales have been robust.
Customers “are always driving on the road with their tractors or pickups. They are constantly wearing their tires out.” Martin says about 60% of the dealership’s income is made through tire sales and around 40% comes from tire service, (Trail Tire also sells OTR, passenger and light truck tires.)
In addition, the company offers brake, suspension and oil work.
There are “very few things” Trail Tire doesn’t do, says Martin.
Service based on location
Trail Tire has three service trucks that are on-call Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Martin says the dealership has no plans to expand those hours.
“We don’t do much on-site with highway or roadside assistance because in this particular area, we are 20 minutes from the closest interstate,” says Martin. “It’s just not as big of a need.”
However, there is a big need for in-field ag tire service.
Trail Tire uses its mobile ag tire service trucks to assist customers where they are.
It’s not unusual for service trucks to travel more than an hour-and-a-half to two hours to a job site. Service trucks usually cover a three-hour radius from Trail Tire’s headquarters, but technicians will make a longer trek if the customer is willing to pay for their time. The dealership charges by the hour.
Knowing the customer
To help customers make the best purchase of ag tires, Martin says it is important for Trail Tire’s salespeople to learn about them.
“We keep over 10 brands of ag tires stocked at our location because we know we are going to be dealing with farmers,” says Martin. “When farmers need a tire or tire repair, they need it now or they cannot get their job done. If they call asking for a specific tire brand or size and we don’t have it right away, they are going to look somewhere else.”
The main ag tire brands that Trail Tire sells are GreenX, which is made by Global Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd.; Vredestein, which is offered by Apollo Tyres Ltd; BKT and Firestone.
Martin says it’s also important to know the size of customers’ farms.
The average size of the farms that Trail Tire services is around 100 acres. Knowing the scope of customers’ operations allows Trail Tire’s salespeople to provide different options in different price ranges.
“For larger farmers with bigger equipment and more land, they usually are more specific with what they want. “Certain people are adamant about sticking to their current brands.”
Up and coming
Martin says a benefit of being in a farming-heavy community is that Trail Tire’s owners can save money on advertising since the dealership’s customers do it for them.
“Farmers have so many connections with each other. If we started working for a new customer and ask how they heard of us, it’s most likely because we serviced another farmer who told him about us.”
Trail Tire will continue to invest in its growth. The dealership currently works out of a building in Dundee.
In June 2022, it broke ground on a service center right across the street from its main building. When completed, the new facility will handle all mechanical work for customers. Trail Tire’s main building will focus solely on selling tires.
The addition will bring Trail Tire up to 12 service bays and will add five new employees.
