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Episode 221

Matt Gibbons

Ozarko Tire Centers, Inc.

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Matt Gibbons is the Sales Director at Ozarko Tire Centers, one of the largest commercial tire distributors in Missouri and Arkansas, operating 12 locations and multiple retread facilities. With more than a decade of experience in the commercial tire industry and previous roles working with Michelin North America, Gibbons has built his reputation helping fleets improve operational performance through smarter tire strategies and disciplined maintenance programs. His work focuses on helping operators reduce fleet tire costs by shifting the conversation away from purchase price and toward long-term performance metrics.

At Ozarko Tire Centers, Gibbons leads teams that consult with trucking fleets across the region on tire programs, cost-per-mile analysis, and preventative maintenance systems designed to reduce fleet tire costs while improving uptime and operational reliability.

EPISODE SPONSOR

This episode of the Gain Traction Podcast is sponsored by Cosmo Tires. Cosmo Tires offers a wide range of tire solutions designed for durability, reliability, and performance across multiple vehicle segments. Learn more at https://www.cosmotires.com

In this episode…

Cheap tires feel like a smart business decision on the surface. The invoice is lower. The purchase looks efficient. The problem appears later on the highway.

One fleet spent $2.8 million on roadside tire failures in a single year, driven entirely by preventable tire issues. That reality exposes a hidden operational blind spot across the trucking industry: most fleets measure tire cost by purchase price instead of cost per mile.

Matt Gibbons explains why that single mistake quietly drains profit from fleets across the country. Tires that fail early create emergency road calls, driver downtime, missed deliveries, and operational disruption that rarely gets tied back to the original purchase decision.

Shop owners and tire dealers who understand this shift hold a strategic advantage. Operators looking to reduce fleet tire costs stop thinking like buyers and start thinking like fleet managers. The difference shows up in uptime, service revenue, and long-term customer relationships.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[01:02] Mike Edge introduces Matt Gibbons and Ozarko Tire Centers

[02:16] Matt Gibbons’ unexpected path into the commercial tire industry

[08:17] How Ozarko Tire Centers expanded into a multi-location commercial operation

[11:20] The scale of Ozarko’s sales force, service operations, and retread facilities

[12:04] Tariffs, inflation, and pricing pressure across the commercial tire market

[13:01] The biggest operational mistakes fleet managers make with tire programs

[16:24] Why premium tires often deliver stronger ROI than cheaper alternatives

[17:10] Understanding cost-per-mile and why most fleets calculate it incorrectly

[19:09] The hidden risks of buying cheap tires without performance tracking

[20:27] How roadside service calls impact fleet profitability and uptime

[21:58] A real-world example of millions spent on preventable tire failures

[23:56] How proactive tire programs dramatically reduce roadside breakdowns

[28:28] Challenging industry habits and the danger of “the way we’ve always done it”

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“You can’t buy cheap and get ahead in the tire business.”
“Most people think cost-per-mile is what they paid for the tire, but that isn’t the real cost.”
“The longer a tire stays on the truck, the more money that fleet saves.”
“If we can prevent those tire failures before they leave the yard, we’ve just saved the customer hundreds of dollars per road call.”
“Since when did the status quo become the standard by which we operate?”

Action Steps:

Start tracking tire cost per mile immediately.
Audit fleet tire failures and roadside service calls.
Build preventative lot checks into your service workflow.
Shift customer conversations toward long-term tire strategy.
Challenge the “cheap tire” buying mindset.

Transcript

00:00
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for tire business. I am Mike Edge, your host and I have the privilege of interviewing the tire dealers, shop owners, counter sales reps, technicians, industry executives and other thought leaders of our industry. This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. Tread Partners is the leading digital marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing for multi location tire and auto repair shops. Tread Partners works with clients that have hundreds of locations down to five locations. Get a professional, unbiased opinion and let Tread Partners review what you’re doing. It starts with a simple conversation. To contact tread partners, visit treadpartners.com so let’s get started. Hey folks, Mike Edge here with the Gain Traction podcast. I just want to make you aware we’ve got a great new sponsor, Cosmo Tires.

00:47
You can find out more about [email protected] they sell about every tire on the market. Here’s a short video about one of their products.

00:58
Slinging that brown mud kicker Mud kick up Never getting stuck Digging down deep while we cr.

01:11
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for tire business. My guest today is Matt Gibbons, sales director for Ozarko Tire Centers Inc. With 12 locations throughout Missouri and Arkansas. Matt, welcome to the Gain Traction podcast.

01:24
Hey, Mike, how are you, man? Thanks for having me.

01:27
Good. Glad to have you. Hope your holidays went well.

01:32
It was good, man. Sometimes they’re long, but man, it was good. Crazy. I don’t know where you got. I think you’re in Kentucky, in Missouri. We ran the freaking AC on Christmas Day. So we did. It was, it was 78 degrees here. I’m not complaining, man. It was awesome. But it was bizarre. But it was good. It was good.

01:51
I don’t think we had it that warm. But yes, we did run the AC because we had people over and then, you know, it was just kind of like. Well, it was actually cooler outside than it was in our house. But our house had gotten so warm.

02:04
Yes.

02:04
And then we had to run the AC just to push the air out, you know, and it felt weird. It felt weird. It was when you have to say, yeah, we’re going to turn on the AC for a little while. That was a, that was odd. But I don’t mind it, man. I, I, hey, I liked it. It was nice. It was a nice day.

02:22
Yeah, I agree. I agree, man.

02:25
So tell us a little bit about yourself. You before you got into tires. Where’d you grow up?

02:30
Yeah, man. So I’m originally from Springfield, Missouri. My dad, we moved here from Texas. We’ve been here, I guess since 1984. So I grew up here. Yeah, man, grew up here, man. Went to school here, went to University of Missouri, went to Mizzou. Miz went there for a little while and. Yep. And then I ended up graduating from Missouri State, which is in Springfield.

02:56
Nice.

02:57
Yeah, man, Got my degree. I was an organizational communications major. And see minor was advertising and promotion. So the little marketing there. Yeah, it was good. Very good.

03:09
So did you grow up being a Royals fan or a Cardinal fan in baseball, man.

03:14
So my dad, when we first moved here, somehow he scored tickets to the 1984 World Series between the Cardinals and the Royals. So he was at the i70 series, which was iconic. I was in like second grade. He brought me back a Cardinals pennant. So since then. Yeah, I mean this is like going back to the 80s, you know, you hung these on the wall. So since then, man, I’m a huge Cardinals fan. Always have. Always happened. Yeah. Yeah.

03:37
Good for you. One of our other, one of our other friends in the industry, Tim Winkler, I don’t know if you know him with VIP tire up in Maine.

03:45
No, I don’t think so.

03:46
Anyway, he grew up around St. Louis and he’s big Cardinal fan. So. Okay.

03:50
Oh yeah. Go Birds, man. Absolutely.

03:52
So good to meet other card fans out there.

03:55
Yeah.

03:57
Anyway, so let’s so fast forward in your life. How did you get to Tires?

04:01
Yeah.

04:02
So crazy college. And say, man, I’m going to Tires.

04:05
Well, it’s really funny. So, man, my senior year of college, one of my upper level classes, I remember, I’ll never forget it. Somehow it’s seared in my brain. But there’s about 75 of us in class that day. And the professor looks at us, he says, hey, you know, you guys are about to graduate, you’re about to go on from here. Spread your wings and fly, right? And he said, I want you to look around, look around the room, look each other in the eye because I want to tell you something. 80% of you are going to be in sales. And man, we just lost it. We’re like, no, you know, no way. And but man, it is so true. And here I am, you know, all these years later, I’m in sales.

04:37
It didn’t always, I guess, start out that way for me, so to speak. Man, I’m a pk. I’m a preacher’s kid. My dad was in ministry, man, his whole life. And so around 1984, dad started a non profit 501 C3 non profit organization. And so, man, that’s kind of been in our family. And so out of college, really, even before college, I started to work with him, and dad kind of started to train me and groom me to sort of take that over. I mean, it’s all I wanted to do, didn’t want to do anything else. And we did several things. I’ll break it down really quick. Two things we did student camps in the summer. And so, Mike, we’d go in, we’d rent out a university. And so we’d have the whole campus to ourself.

05:17
We’d have four or five weeks of camp there. We’d have anywhere from 400 to 800 kids per week. And we like college campuses because it had all of the amenities just built in. It was just kind of a turnkey, you’re good to go. And so that was part of it. The other part was, is on the off seasons, we would take teams down into Mexico and Nicaragua. A lot of poor areas down there, especially Nicaragua. It’s the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, right behind Haiti. And so long story short, man, we would go in, we would work with some individuals who were on the ground. But, man, we would build homes for homeless families, for school, teachers, we built churches, we built an orphanage. And so, man, we just wanted to, to be a man.

06:02
We try to be a, you know, people of hope, love and faith. And man, we just. That’s. That’s what we did. And so, man, I loved it. It was what I wanted to do, man, put all my eggs in that basket around 20, you know, and obviously we’re a 501C3, so, you know, we’ve got a lot of, you know, donations, obviously. And man, the crash of 08 hurt bad housing and it just affected our economy. And so we had to close the doors in 2010. Well, man, Mike, in 2010, here I am, you know, I’ve got nothing else. So, man, I started hustling and I was at the time engaged to my now wife.

06:44
And A little stressful, right?

06:47
Well, a little bit, yeah. And I really felt bad for her dad, my soon to be father in law, because here I am, you know, hey, man, don’t have a job. I’m making about eight bucks an hour. So that’s very, that’s attractive. So anyway, man, I’m hustling, I’m selling cars, doing what I can. Well, I’m living in Greenville South Carolina at the time. And my wife’s dad, so. So my father in law, his best friend worked for Michelin North America. I’ve been with Michelin for about 43, 44 years. And so Tony calls me up one day, he says, hey Matt, I can’t get you a job, but I can get you a phone call. I said, man, I’ll take a phone call. So sure enough, I get a phone call from Michelin. Man, got, went on board with him. The rest is history.

07:32
But worked for several years with Michelin. My first assignment with them was out in Southern California. I was a territory manager for commercial business. And man, I had LA County, Orange County. Man, this was a great experience for me, especially being in the trucking and transportation industry now because, man, Mike, I got a ton of large fleet, big fleet experience. And I had LA County School District, Orange County. These are the largest school districts in the country. Thousands of buses. And so, man, it was a great training ground for me, you know, as a new. Absolutely, yeah. Just super cool. So, man, I got just second to none training from Michelin, Amazing training from them. And just the experience I got, man, is again, it’s just, it’s kind of led me to where I’m at today, for sure.

08:21
That’s fantastic. So, yeah, you. But then you ended up back in Springfield. How did you get there?

08:27
Yeah, so. So I was with Michelin for a few years and then I jumped on board with Michelin’s largest distributor in Missouri and Arkansas. So Ozarko Tire Centers is the. Is Michelin’s largest commercial distributor. We’ve got like, you know, I think you’d mentioned it. 12 locations throughout Missouri and Arkansas. We’ve got two retread plants that we own and operate. And so, man, funny story how I even got that job. I didn’t really know anybody at Ozarko at all. And so I walk into Ozarko and you know, man, I’m dressed to the nines with all my Michelin gear. So Michelin shirt, you know, my jacket, Michelin. I mean, I’m. I’m like the Michelin guy. Yeah. So I said, can I speak to your manager? And this guy comes out, guy named Dave Drennan. Dave’s been in the business for 45 years.

09:16
He actually just retired about a year and a half ago. Great, man. And anyway, so I’m talking to Dave and this guy is being so. He’s being overly nice to me and I can’t figure out why. Because I. I don’t know this guy from Adam. And I’m sitting there, we’re talking about the industry, talking about michelin stuff. And I said, hey, you know, I brought my. Brought my resume, man. Hey, would you be able to pass this on to the owner? And you could kind of see like a relief kind of leave his body, so to speak. And I didn’t think anything of it. The next day I get a call from the owner of Ozarko. Todd McGinnis calls me up. He says, hey, Matt, my brother and I want to take you to lunch tomorrow for an interview. Would that be okay?

09:55
And I’m like, man, absolutely. So they take me to this really nice steakhouse in Springfield, and, man, I’m there for. For over four hours. Longest interview? Yeah, literally, it seemed like it lasted an hour.

10:08
Did you eat twice or something?

10:10
Yeah, we just moved here, right. And so my wife doesn’t know anybody but my parents, my family. And so I’ve been gone for four hours. Well, she gets worried. She’s calling me. I’m not answering my phone because I’m in an interview. She comes up to the restaurant. Mike, right about that time, my boss, they’re in front of me. Two, both of them are my soon to be boss. They’re walking out. She almost hits them in the parking lot. And so from the get go, man, it. It was. It was almost a disaster. But, man, it was. It was so cool. What was funny about Dave Drennan, though? Because I had all my Michelin gear on, he thought I was there to audit them. And so that’s why he was like, yes, sir, no, sir, what can I do, sir? So, man, it was.

10:51
It was pretty funny. But, man, look, all. All these years later, man, with. With being with Ozarko, man, it’s. It’s been fantastic. I’ve started my 11th year this year, man, it was darker. We’ve been in business for. For 35 years. Our founder and president, Gary McGinnis, started this in 1990 and had one location in Little Video, West Plains, Missouri, town of about 12,000 people. But, you know, he’s got both of his sons, Gary Jr. And Todd. Man, what the. What. They have done, the three of them together, to grow this thing to 12 locations. It’s. It’s been an amazing feat, man. And it’s been. It’s been so fun to be a part of.

11:29
How many sales reps do you guys.

11:31
Have out there in our sales force? We’ve got about 35. We’ve got a total of 150 employees. We’re heavy on, obviously, the service industry, Mike, you know, with our service centers, number one, but then also our two retro plants. So we’re heavy on service, but, yeah, we’ve, I would say about a 70, 30 split with sales being about 30 of it. So. Man, a lot of us wear a lot of hats, but yeah, man, it’s, it’s. It’s been fun to be part of, for sure.

12:02
Well, when you’re in sales, you are in customer service, too. I mean, period. So it’s. Especially in your line. Well, it’s interesting. So I, I, I got a couple questions for you. How, how is tariffs affecting you guys? Are terrorists affecting you guys?

12:19
No, no, they have, man. Last year we had about 5 price increases. We, we hadn’t seen that since around 21 with COVID Yeah, 22. So, yeah, they, they’ve. Yes, we’ve had. Last year, yeah, like I said, around five or so. Well, in 24, we had five. Last year we had about two.

12:40
Okay.

12:41
This year, I. Hey, we’ll. We’ll kind of see where the market lands. But yeah, the tariffs, not as bad as you would think, because these tariffs have kind of been on again, off again, obviously, on some of the offshore stuff. Yes. Yeah, we’ve seen tariffs on that, but a lot of your tier one stuff, you know, your Michelin, you know, Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, we haven’t seen a lot of that, tariff wise. Yes, we’ve seen some price increases, but, man, that goes to inflation, so. And really, just raw materials, man.

13:09
No, I get it. What’s your, what do you think are the biggest challenges, problems that face the guys that you call on, which I assume is fleet managers.

13:19
Yeah, definitely, man. I mean, it’s kind of a loaded question. So how much time you got, man?

13:25
Well, I know one of your, your, your. You know, when we talked before, you felt like, look, I’m in sales, but ultimately I’m in the education business.

13:34
Yeah. So. So, man, education is a huge part of what we do and rooted in what we do as a salesman. You know, we. Here’s what I tell my sales reps and I train these guys, I hire my mentor. I don’t want you to be a salesman because that’s too easy. You know, you wake up and you try to sell something, and that sounds very simple and simplistic in thought. But, but, man, I want my guys to be the expert. We have to be the expert in the industry. We’ve got to be a consultant to show our customers what. What would benefit them most. Because, man, so much of the time in our industry, Mike, a lot of the guys who are buying commercial truck tires with. With freight and with trucking, they. They love to do things the way they’ve always been done.

14:20
And. And so when you get a guy like me who likes to come in and sort of challenge the status quo, man, I. Here’s the thing, Mike. The. The tagline of our company is so key to what we do, and it’s. It’s specializing entire cost reduction. And. And so, I mean. Yeah, man, so for commercial.

14:39
That’s. That’s awesome.

14:40
Yeah, a lot of that is based off of what we do and how we operate. Again, look, when a true salesman can come in and they’ll sell on price, they’ll get beat on price every time. So, man, with what we do, 90% of what we sell, I would probably say 90, close to 95% of what we sell is all Michelin, man. It’s no secret. Michelin is probably the most expensive tire in the market, whether it’s passenger light, truck, or, obviously, in this case, commercial. And so we can’t sell on price. If we do, we’ll lose every time. So we’ve got to sell on value. So selling on value, man, there’s certain things that we can do as a company to. To. To save our customers money. And part of that is through consulting. And so we talk about things like cost per mile.

15:25
We talk about things about, you know, instituting a tire program and what that looks like and how that can benefit you. Because the days of, you know, you asked me what the biggest challenge was, man, I would say the biggest challenge is doing the way. Doing things the way you’ve always done them. You know, guys buying cheap tires and thinking that they’re getting ahead, it’s. It’s an illusion, man. You can’t buy cheap and get ahead in the tire business, Mike. And you. You know this, man, you get what you pay for 100. And. And so, man, we. We, man, we train our guys to. To really push and to sell tier one tires. Now, look, every customer has a buying behavior, right? So you’ve got a tier one customer, there’s a tier two customer, a three and a four. That’s why they exist.

16:10
And so I’m not saying we don’t sell those other. Those other tiers, but, man, I would say the biggest problem is just, man, trying to take and improve their business and to grow their business and.

16:24
So again, ultimately, you’re selling the value of buying a higher entire because it’s going to save you money in the long run, potentially. Correct?

16:33
Well, for sure. And the ROI is so key for commercial truck tires, especially with retreading. And Mike, that is the lifeline and the heart blood of what we do and why we do it. The owner of our company’s got a saying. He’s like, man, if we can’t retread it, I don’t want anything to do with it. I mean, it’s just, it’s what we do, man. And so Ozarka, we’re known for our retreading. We were one of the first, we’re one of three people to jump on board back in 2000 when Michelin first came out with their retread process called mrt, Michelin Retread Technologies. And so we’re one of the first. And so, yeah, man, we’ve been doing it a long time and our quality speaks for itself.

17:12
But, but man, that’s also us partnering with Michelin and that quality and you know, technology is there. It’s, it’s not what it used to be, man.

17:21
Talk about real quick, cost per mile. How do you guys, how’s that for my audience that maybe dabbles in commercial tires? I’ve got, I mean, we’ve had commercial people on here before, but let’s get a little bit into the weeds. What, what does that mean?

17:37
It sounds super complex and difficult. It’s really simple. So to figure your cost per mile, you take the cost of the tire divided by the run out miles. Okay, here’s the facade. Most people think the cost per mile is Mike, it’s what you pay for the tire. Right. So I’ll go in, I’ll consult with the fleet, I’ll be there. I’ll say, Mr. Customer, what’s your cost per mile? He’ll reach over his desk, he’ll pull out an invoice and say, hey, I paid 599 for this tide. I’ll go, great. Hey, Bob, that’s great you paid that. But that’s what you paid. That isn’t your cost per mile. My next question then is, how many miles did you get out of that? Well, shoot, I don’t know. So problem number one is, you know, a. What is cost per mile?

18:19
You take the cost of the tire divided by the run out miles. Obviously, Mike, the longer that tire stays on, the more money that customer’s saving, right? Yes, that’s why we push a tier one brand, and so with cost per mile, number one, you’ve got to know what it is. But number two, in order to figure that, yeah, you got to know what you paid for, but you got to know how many miles you got out of it. So what does that mean? You think, you think the owner of that company you talked about, what are the biggest challenges facing fleet managers today? Dude, this is. This is probably it.

18:46
One of the top problems that we deal with day in and day out is does the owner of that company who owns Bob’s trucking, he’s got 10 trucks, maybe he’s got a thousand trucks. Who does he have managing that fleet? And what I mean by. And the word managing, man, there’s a lot of caveats underneath that title, however, you would be surprised, Mike. I’ll, I’ll walk into a. I’ll give you a real life scenario. I was consulting a few months ago, one of the largest fleets in Arkansas. They didn’t know their cost per mile. Couldn’t tell me what it was. So you got small fleets, you got large.

19:19
How were they buying? Were they just buying the. The attire that was affordable in their mind and just. That was it?

19:25
So not really. They were going. They were going off. I mean, yes and no. They’re buying cheap. Okay? I hate to say that word. Sometimes it’s a dirty word. It’s cheap, man. They’re buying cheap. But here’s the problem. What that fleet manager really didn’t have was actually somebody tracking those tires. You like, here’s the thing now, Mike, obviously a guy who’s got 100 trucks or a thousand, you think he’s going to go track every one of those? No, we deal in averages, right? So go take 25, go take 10% of your fleet, 15% of your fleet, get that average. That becomes your baseline. Once you have your baseline, now you’ve got. Now you’ve used. You’ve established what your costs are. And so it makes it much easier for Bob, the owner of that company, to manage his fleet?

20:08
Well, to manage specifically in this case, we’re talking about his tire program. Because he knows what he’s buying, because he knows what they’ll do, right? Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, that’s kind of. It’s scratching the surface. But.

20:21
But you gotta know that in your line of work, because, I mean, what’s the variables of the difference? I think, like, I was trying to think of something I knew about your old business a little bit like let’s talk about ERS calls, for instance.

20:36
Yeah, so. So, I mean, man, ers, Mike, is a huge part of. Of what we do.

20:42
And those are emergency calls for everybody listening.

20:45
Yeah, so. So Trucker Bob’s doing, you know, 70 miles down the road, he pops a tire. The trailer. His trailer tire blows. He’s down, right? Or steer tire, drive tire, he’s on the side of the road. So we’ve got something called. We’re part of what’s called the Michelin Commercial Service Network. It’s a group of about 2,000 dealers coast to coast. No matter where that customer is at 2 in the morning in the middle of nowhere, he can jump on his cell phone, get on the app. Michelin will automatically call me, the off or whoever. In this case, Ozarko, and, you know, the closest authorized Michelin dealer. We’ll find out what tire he needs, we’ll go rescue him, we’ll put that on. Now, Michelin grades us, right? So we’ve got a ton. We’re operating, I don’t want to say under the gun, but.

21:30
But Michelin, you know, because we’re part of this, man. We’re. We’re measured in KPIs, right? So it is out. It’s to our benefit to get that customer up and going as fast and as safe as possible. And so, yeah, Mike, this. This kind of going back to this fleet I was telling you about in Arkansas, one of their biggest issues were road calls. In 2023, they had $2.8 million in ERS road calls. Okay. Those were all due to a tire failure. Okay, wow. So the thought is, okay, what’s going on with your tire program? Right?

22:07
So, I mean, you gotta add that cost into your cost. I mean, yeah, it’s. That’s a significant cost in your purchase of tires then.

22:15
Right? But then you factor in downtime. What’s that costing you?

22:19
Oh, that’s. That’s the. Yeah, that’s the variable cost that you. Yeah, 100.

22:24
So. So. So we’re trying to get these fleets to look at the simple problems because people think, man, it’s a tire. It’s made of rubber, it holds air. Who cares? No, and that’s what I thought when I got in this business 14 years ago, but, man, there’s so much more. There’s so much technology today in a tire, it’s not even funny. And technology is always changing. And so that’s why we’re always encouraging our customers, you know, to. To continue to push forward, man. Number one, don’t get Stuck doing what you’ve always done. Technology is always changing. And one thing I always say, Mike, is, you know, these customers who are resistant to change. I’ll be like, are you still using the same flip phone you were 10 years ago? Well, no. I’ve got this fancy phone.

23:03
I mean, dude, we’ve got the world at our fingertips.

23:06
Yep.

23:06
Right. Well, the same is true with tire technology, especially with retreading as well. Man, these technologies change and they improve upon every single year. That’s why, that’s why guys like Michelin and Bridget, you know, and everybody else, the tier ones, they invest millions and millions of dollars every single year to upgrade to make their products better. So, yeah, man, ERS calls, it’s a big deal. Here’s the thing. They’re preventative, okay? Now let me say this. Tires are not bulletproof, okay? I said they’re made of rubber. They are. And they hold air, so they’re not bulletproof. However, if, if fleets would start paying attention to the pillars, right? Of, of, of commercial tire maintenance, man, they would put themselves in a much better place. Because here’s the thing, Mike. If we can prevent those tire failures before they leave the yard.

23:57
I’ve just saved that customer. You ready for this? 700 bucks per road call. That’s the average cost of a road call. 700 bucks.

24:04
Okay, let me ask you a question. If you look at that account that you, the, that you mentioned, this big carrier in Arkansas, 2.8 million in, you know, ERS calls, all related to tires.

24:20
4,200 events, by the way. Good.

24:23
Okay, so how do you. In your mind, just as an average, from your experience, how much do you think you can take that raw dollar amount down in hard cost from 2.8 to what if. If they’ve doing. Let’s say they’re doing everything right, they’re buying better tires and they’re doing those things like checking the air pressure, doing. You know what I’m saying?

24:49
Yeah. They’re doing everything they need to do. I mean. Yeah, Mike, I would say so. If they were at, you know, 2.8 million, you know, that’s roughly four, 200 events. I mean, Mike, you could get it down to maybe a couple of hundred a year. Because here’s, because here’s the thing.

25:05
Are you serious?

25:06
Yeah. Because look, here’s the thing. Can, can. Can I. Let me say this. Can I prevent a truck running over a piece of rebarb in the road? No. No, I can’t. Can I prevent, as a fleet manager, can I prevent my truck from running 70 pounds of psi versus a hundred where it should be? I can prevent that. Right? Yeah. So do the things that you can control focus on what you can control. Again, here’s what we can’t control. That driver can’t control what he drives over at, driving 70 miles an hour, loaded down £80,000. Right. He can’t control what he drives over on that freeway of that highway. Right. So, yeah, there’s so much that we can control. Put it this way, there’s a lot more we can control versus what we can’t.

25:51
So you’re saying, though, in your mind you could potentially save, I mean, from that cost, that hard cost number that we know, doing everything right, buying the right tires and everything and monitoring it better, you think you could save them maybe 80% if you’re going to get.

26:09
Yeah. Yep.

26:10
That’s fascinating.

26:11
Absolutely. Now, obviously, Mike, but you know that’s a truck that’s got, that’s a fleet that’s got thousands of trucks. But here’s the deal. Let’s, let’s. Here’s the thing. There’s only 3% of trucks in America are that large. Okay. Most fleets. Most fleets are 22 trucks and below. Okay. So, but like, let’s go for a guy, even way.

26:33
In a way that’s even more manageable, right? I mean, in the sense that way more.

26:37
Yeah.

26:37
And you can save a lot of money. Not. We’re not talking about millions, but you could save a lot of money per truck, per tire, et cetera. And it adds up at the end of the day.

26:46
Absolutely, it adds up.

26:47
And I think the one thing you got me thinking about is just that, I mean, downtime costs, I mean, that’s an unknown depending on who you’re shipping to, Right?

26:56
Yeah, for sure. And that’s what, that’s what is a killer. It’s just, it’s. Look, again, if you, if fleets today will do the simple things that they can control. Preventative maintenance, you know, proper tire maintenance, you know, running a tier one, you know, proper, you know, new tire program, having a retread program, right. These are all things that are going to save them, you know, money and ROI on their investment. But if they do those things, Mike. Yes. You can prevent a lot of this stuff again. Yes. You’re still going to have some road calls, man. Because again, I can’t prevent a nail that’s been there from the roofing company that drove down the highway and a bunch of nails fell out, right? But it’s just, man, that’s why. That’s why we preach.

27:40
And getting back to your kind of original question, that’s why we edge. We got to constantly educate our customers. It’s constantly educating them about, man, doing. Doing the simple things gives you success, right? It’s. It’s those simple things of running the proper air pressure, right? Checking your tread depth, looking for a regular wear, right? If you catch those things before your truck leaves the yard, which, by the way, that’s. That’s. That’s what we do as a servicing dealer. We do what we call lot checks where we’ll go in, check those trucks. We will look at every single truck on your lot or get close to it or do. Do a large percentage of that so that we can catch them before you leave.

28:19
Because that’s fantastic.

28:21
If our motto is. Is to specialize entire cost reduction, one of the ways we do that is to prevent the emergencies that happen out on the road. Because, man. But long story short, Mike, these fleets are the most vulnerable when they’re out on the road.

28:37
No, I get it. Hey, you. So that’s your. That’s your old tagline. Do you have a quote or a mantra that you live by? Other than that one.

28:45
Yeah. So, man, I. Funny you should ask that. So I wrote this about. I’ve been a bit of a writer my adult life, and. But I wrote something about eight to ten years ago, and it sort of evolved and then really stuck with me. I. And anytime I write something, man, it’s usually for myself. So I use that for me. But then I also challenge people with it and challenge customers with it. But the quote goes like this. Really simple. Since when did the status quo become the standard by which we operate? All right, let me say that again. Since when did the status quo become the standard by which we operate? So let. Let me. Let me break that down real quick. Let me define the status quo. Status quo is the bare minimum doing the least amount that’s required of me.

29:24
Now, Mike, let me ask you a question. Do you think the. My boss, the owner of our company, do you think that he’s okay with me putting out and giving him and our company the bare minimum? The least amount required?

29:37
100. Not.

29:38
No. So. So if it’s not okay that we do it in life, why is it okay that so many owners and businesses do it and operate that way in their business?

29:49
In a lot of ways they’re operating. It’s the. Don’t if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it mentality.

29:54
Correct. Correct. And you and I talked about this, you know, when we first talked. I said, man, let me prove that to you. The, the mantra, the thing that so many people live by is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But I say, if it ain’t broke, you’re not looking hard enough. Yeah, because, Mike, look, the reality is the industry that we’re in the trucking, the transportation industry, tire industry, man, it is deep in tradition. And that’s not a bad thing. Okay? I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.

30:18
However, I’ll get it. I get it.

30:19
It’s not. But however it can be, you know, the definition of tradition is doing the same thing over and over, doing it the same way you’ve always done it, right? So, so watch this. The status quo will kill three things as a business owner, really. And in your life, it’ll kill your success, number one. Number two, it’s going to kill your growth. And number three will kill your future. So. So, man, like, it’s why I love to challenge the status quo. And, man, if you haven’t figured it out, I’m 100 miles an hour. I’m, I’m either all or nothing. There’s really no in between. For me, that can be a blessing and a curse, but it’s just, I don’t know how to be anything else. And, and so for me, man, it’s like I’m always, I’m always pushing and striving our industry to better.

31:06
Because here’s the thing. I learned this when I first started with Michelin. The trucking industry is about 10 years behind. Yeah, like, we just are. That’s just the nature of how it is. We’re 10 years behind on technology. And so, man, it’s just, man, as a fleet owner, as an owner of a garage, even with your, you know, with, with your audience listening right now, man, I set a different standard, man. Operate in a different way. Because I promise you, I don’t think having this saying this is okay. You know what? This year, yeah, it was okay. We had a decent year. Hey, I did what I did last year, right? It was good enough, right? I, I, I just don’t see how companies grow and succeed and, and scale based off of the status quo, so.

31:58
Well, what is the Japanese motto in the, like Toyota and stuff? Kaizen. The net Cub. Kaizen, I think so Yeah, I don’t. It’s basically constant improvement. My brother worked for one.

32:08
Yes, okay.

32:09
Toyota Tetsu at one time, early in his career. And he said they taught him the fundamental was that every week they’re always looking for ways to improve every process. So whatever department you’re in, you’re always submitting. Whether you can shave a half a second off of something or a second, whatever, it all adds up. And they were always looking for ways, can we do this better? Can we do this better? Can we do this better? And I think by doing that, you make yourself into a Toyota, which is the number one car company in the world. And in seconds, not even close these days. But when you and I grew up, that was not the case.

32:44
Correct? Yep.

32:45
You know, absolutely. And, and I, it’s interesting because I’m in the, being in the car market and you talk about, you know, you talk to these repair shops and stuff, it’s interesting. You’ll. You’ll ask them what’s the best car to own if you don’t want a lot of repairs or if you do, and they’ll say a Toyota. And they’ll, you’re like, really? And they’ll say, oh yeah, parts are readily available, but they don’t break down very often. But if they do break down, it’s very inexpensive to fix, you know, so it’s kind of win, win all the way around. Whereas, you know, the. There’s several high end types of cars that I’ve got friends that own and like them and everything, but at the same time, man, they break down. It’s. And they do it frequently.

33:24
And I’ve got mechanics that tell me there’s some of their favorite models to work on because they say it’s repeat and it’s not my fault. I can’t, I can only tape it up and make it go further because of the flaws in it. Absolutely. Interesting. Well, on a personal level, just to let people know a little bit more about Matt Gibbons. What’s, what’s your favorite food?

33:44
Favorite food. Okay, so my wife is part Italian, so I kind of married this Italian family. Yeah. So 100% Italian. I’ve always liked Italian, but this is like real deal, like authentic. Funny story, man. Well, here’s what’s crazy, man. When we got married, she’s got some aunts and her family, they’re all from Philly and so big city, man, Philadelphia. Don’t know if you’ve ever been, but man, it’s that, man, that part of the world is very unique. I’d never been there, you know, until. Until I married in her family, but it’s awesome. So for our wedding, her aunts flew in wedding cookies. Like, they were this huge deal, this big deal. And I’m like, wedding cookies? What? Like what? Like, I. Man, dude, I’m from Missouri, man. Like, I mean, pretty plain, simple, and meat and potatoes.

34:31
And so, man, as I got to learn about this, dude, it was phenomenal. So they flew in wedding cookies. Italian wedding cookies. Phenomenal. That’s awesome. Don’t get me started on cannolis, man.

34:42
Wow. Well, I mean, you’re in Springfield, so. One of my favorite places to eat actually is in St. Louis, Missouri, if you’re eating on the Hill.

34:48
I have not, but I’ve definitely heard of it.

34:50
Okay, well, I’m going to highly recommend because it’s. It’s considered one of the last little Italies in the United States. And it’s very authentic. Okay. And I’ve got buddies that all grew up on the Hill. I went to school at slu, but if I go to. If I go to the city, I. I literally. And. And I know of other good restaurants around the city, but I can’t help myself. I always eat on the Hill because, like, you’re familiar with toasted ravioli, probably.

35:15
Oh, yeah. Oh, at tr. You bet.

35:18
So it was in. It was invented by Charlie Gito’s on the Hill. Somebody decided to drop one. Yeah.

35:24
Hey, you know, now that you’re saying this, I remember seeing an episode of Triple D of Guy Fieri. You know, the diners driving the dives. Yes, that was on there because. Because I remember them talking about toast ravioli.

35:38
That’s interesting. All right, so I didn’t see that one, but I do love that show because I’m a dive eater. I like to eat at a lot of those type local places and whatnot. But the. The Hill. And the Hill has a baking company on top of the hill that’s called the Missouri Baking Company. The Gambaros own it. And they. They have cannolis, several different flavors. So I’m just saying it’s not too far drive for you, and you might.

36:02
Want three and a half hours.

36:04
But they. They also have these things called chocolate drops that my kids love. So if they know I’m going to St. Louis. I was literally leaving the city one time and I was by Busch Stadium on the interstate. I had two exits to go, and my kids, one of them called me and said, hey, did you pick us up some chocolate drops from the Missouri Baking Company. I said, no, I didn’t get close there today. And I just, dad, you’re closer than our house. We’re three and a half hours away. Just turn around and go get some. And I’m like, all right, so. And literally drove to the hill to find chocolate drops for the kids. But I, I, you know, they did.

36:42
Make you feel bad.

36:43
They were right. I mean, I was that close that I didn’t do it, you know, So I never leave, I never leave the city without them now. And it’s just kind of funny. But you’ll probably get that way. And they do have me pick up cannoli sometimes, too, which is funny. But.

36:57
Yep. And then I got introduced to tiramisu. I never had really had that. And that. That’s probably my favorite Italian dessert, man.

37:03
It’s fantastic. Well, Matt, you’ve been a wealth of knowledge for our audience. I appreciate you coming on.

37:10
Sure, man.

37:11
Thanks for being part of Gain Traction Podcast, man.

37:14
My pleasure, man. Thank you for having me and really appreciate it.

37:16
Absolutely. So to all the listeners out there, you know, we love you. We’ll see you next time here at the Gain Traction Podcast. Thank you to all our listeners, thank you for being part of the Gain Traction podcast. We are grateful for you. If you’d like to find more podcasts like this, please visit gaintractionpodcast.com if you’d like to make your guest recommendation, please email me at my mike at treadpartners. Com. This episode has been powered by Tread Partners, the leader in digital marketing for multilocation tire and auto repair shops. To learn more about Tread Partners, visit treadpartners. Com.

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1 In this episode…

2 Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

3 Resources mentioned in this episode:

4 Quotable Moments:

5 Action Steps: