Lee Epling has had it with parts costs. He was speaking the day after a late-night trailer tire blowout in Wisconsin in early August, a mere nine miles from a major truck stop chain location he has an account with and from whom he's "bought plenty of tires and service from" over the years, he said.
It wasn't the "call out, the two-hour minimum, nor the mileage charge for driving there" that bothered him, Epling said. No, "what killed me" was the cost of the tire.
Owner-operator Epling, based in Aiken, South Carolina, runs Double Coin tires on his trailers, and more premium tires usually on his tractor. He also owns a flatbed and a low boy, but on this day was pulling his 2015 model Utility step deck that does a good amount of running in and out of construction sites. (The trailer tires do take something of a beating, he noted.) To an extent, he makes tire choices to minimize cost given expected shorter life in his application.
The Love's shop's price to replace this Double Coin 255/70R22.5 trailer tire was $460-plus with valve stems and FET. In the moment and in the aftermath, via various online tire vendors -- like SimpleTire.com -- he was able to find the same tire for much less. One online vendor had it as low as $276, shipped even.
It pays to shop around, of course, if it's possible. Given he was down that late at night, though, he "had no alternative" as this was the only shop within 20 miles of the location with any hope of responding for road service.
"We take a beating from spot market rates, fuel costs, lack of adequate parking, lack of respect from the general public," Epling said. "Now we're going to be dealing with one of the larger truck stops with a repair shop" and prices that he feels just don't make sense. "I reached out to their customer service department in writing" for an explanation, to no avail.
I contacted Love's about the pricing of tires in its network, whether it's uniform nationwide or at individual franchise managers' discretion. I didn't hear back in time for this story, but the mid-$400s figure does seem a somewhat common price for the Double Coin brand in that size, scanning various online vendors.
