Turbo Wholesale Tires LLC’s Rolling Big Power brand isn’t just for light truck tires anymore.
The Irwindale, Calif.-based company has launched a full line of commercial medium truck tires under its Rolling Big Power banner.
The new Rolling Big Power TBR range encompasses four long-haul tires under the Deliveror name, four regional haul tires under the Expressor name, three 17.5- and 19.5-inch local haul tires sold under the Courior name and three mixed-service tires marketed under the Constructor name, for a total lineup of 40-plus SKUs.
Hundreds of Turbo customers recently enjoyed an up-close look at several of those tires during an open house at Turbo’s distribution center in Hammond, Ind., 30 miles outside of Chicago, Ill.
‘A complete lineup'
“We wanted to come to the marketplace with a complete (commercial truck tire) lineup, priced right and distributed right, so people would say, ‘This is a truck tire program built by truck tire people for truck tire people,’” Turbo CEO Phillip Kane told MTD before the open house event began.
Prior to the new line’s development, “TBR was not part of the lineup at Turbo in any way, shape or form. We didn’t sell a single truck tire. Meanwhile, our customers were saying, ‘It would be great if you had truck tires,’ — a message Kane relayed to the rest of Turbo's leadership team.
"Everyone internally quickly got behind the idea," which was quarterbacked by Bridney Jordan, Turbo product manager.
“There were a couple of things that were tremendously important as we embarked on this journey,” Kane told MTD. “The first is that this was not going to be just another tier-four (truck) tire that was undifferentiated and indistinguishable.
“For us and me, there was really only one manufacturer I wanted to do business with — for reasons of quality — and that’s CMA/Double Coin, so that’s who we pursued” and eventually secured as the line’s manufacturer.
“The second thing that was important is that it be a complete line. We have over 40 SKUs, from long-haul to mixed-service. We have four SmartWay lines. We even have a spread-axle tire. And the products have the same quality and engineering — and the same warranty — that goes into any Double Coin tire.
“It was important to me that a servicing dealer could satisfy the needs of any type of fleet in any vocation” with the Rolling Big Power TBR line, said Kane.
“The other thing we did is (give) names to the products that extended the ‘or’ nomenclature that the rest of Rolling Big Power’s (products) have.” (Editor’s note: Turbo sells Rolling Big Power brand light truck tires under the Repulsor and Conveyor names.)
“We named the long-haul tire ‘Deliveror,’ the regional haul tire ‘Expressor,’ the urban (delivery) tire ‘Courior,’ and then our mixed-service tire is the 'Constructor.’
“Each vocation has a descriptive name that means something and then each tire (name) will be followed by a letter that corresponds with its wheel position. For example, Deliveror S is a steer tire. And there may be some other delineator following that, if the tire has a particular characteristic.”
For instance, he noted, a low rolling resistance, SmartWay-verified Rolling Big Power medium truck tire will include the letters “FE” in its name, denoting the product’s enhanced fuel efficiency. The idea is that “the person selling (the tire) can look at it and understand what it is.”
Distribution details
Rolling Big Power brand TBR tires, which are built in Thailand, will be available through Turbo’s distribution centers “or they can be purchased direct from the factory by our distributor customers,” said Kane.
He noted that he’s unconcerned about the impact of possible tariffs on medium truck tires made in Thailand, adding that preliminary duties announced by the United States Department of Commerce four months ago “are pretty negligible.”
When asked about the Rolling Big Power TBR line’s positioning, Kane told MTD, “I always say, ‘You don’t tell the market what tier you’re in. The market tells you what tier you’re in.’ I think the market would tell us we’re kind of in the lower part of tier-three and that was the goal.
“We tried really, really hard to make certain between ourselves and Double Coin that this (would be) a comprehensive program from the jump, so we aren’t (saying), ‘Hey, here are 13 SKUs’ and then have the market say, ‘That isn’t a truck tire program.’”
More LT investment
Kane also told MTD that Turbo will continue to expand its Rolling Big Power light truck tire range. The company displayed its new Rolling Big Power Repulsor X/T RX extreme all-terrain tire during the Hammond distribution center open house.
“We said, ‘Wouldn’t it be something if Rolling Big Power was a soup-to-nuts light truck tire line?’ We said, ‘Let’s do an M/T and an R/T first ... and we did that last year. We (then) said, ‘To have a complete LT line, you need X/T, H/T and A/T also,’ and said, ‘Let’s put those on the calendar.’
“The A/T and H/T will be produced this fall. There also will be a commercial van tire in Rolling Big Power and that will be called the Transferor,” he revealed.
“By the end of the year, the promise to remake the Rolling Big Power light truck tire line will be completely done."
Filling out the Rolling Big Power light truck tire range "is important because our dealers told us it’s important,” said Kane. “Our dealers said, ‘We love you, but ... buying an M/T (tire) from you and then having to buy an R/T or an A/T from someone else doesn’t work for us.’ We said, ‘OK, we’ll make it all. And that’s what we’re doing.’”
The R/T light truck tire category, in particular, is “going gangbusters for us,” Kane told MTD. “We almost can’t make enough of them.”
