BestDrive, a commercial tire dealer and retreader focusing on Continental tire offerings, celebrated the grand opening of its 22nd location in Commerce City outside Denver, CO, last week.
Established in 2010, BestDrive now has commercial tire centers across the U.S., with plans to expand into eight additional states by the end of 2018. Colorado marks the company’s 13th state.
BestDrive’s Denver tire center is an 18,400-square-foot retail and service space expected to bring $4 to 5 million in sales to the city annually. Strategically located near the junctions of I-25, I-76, I-70, and I-270.
“A consistent factor when selecting locations is that it must be easily accessible to our customer, and our Denver dealership is no exception,” said Sonny Simpson, managing director of BestDrive. “Our growth strategy requires that we have an appropriate national footprint capable of providing continuous and seamless coverage across the nation.”
The location will offer new tires and mechanical services, as well as distributing ContiTread retreads manufactured in the BestDrive Salt Lake City plant. Continental designs its commercial tire casings for retreading. Each retread tire saves almost 40 pounds of raw material, including rubber, steel, and carbon black, as well as 15 gallons of oil, according to the Retread Tire Information Bureau (TRIB). The bureau also calculates that retreading truck tires in the U.S. reduces carbon emissions by 396,000 tons annually, as the retreading process generates 70% less emissions than production of a new tire.
“First and foremost, I’m excited about the ability to bring the Continental retread product ContiTread to the market,” said T.J. Atwood, the Denver store's general manager. “This gives customers an option for retreading that they’ve never had before. I’m also excited about the innovative products we’ll be able to offer from Continental, like truck tires from the Continental, General Tire, and Ameri*Steel brands, ContiPressureCheck tire monitoring, and RoadLog ELD.”
Atwood is also proud of the team he has put together in Commerce City. “We have a great staff of employees with over 150 years of combined tire experience,” he said. “My crew and I pride ourselves on providing world class customer service, while lowering the customer's overall driving cost.”
Denver was selected due to its prominence as a commercial fleet hub. Denver is home to four of America’s largest private fleets as ranked in the “2017 Fleet Owner 500” from Fleet Owner magazine. According to Simpson: “Commerce City and Denver sit at the natural cross-roads in the region. Our dealership location places us in the best possible position to service our national fleet customers while also servicing the local fleets that operate there.”
“Continental sees enormous opportunity for BestDrive to offer local sales and service in more locations convenient for our fleet operators, to support both the high demand for retread tires and the local economies of the areas in which our stores are located,” said Steve Postel, Continental’s director of Retail for the Americas region. According to Modern Tire Dealer’s “What to Expect in 2017” report, for every 1.08 replacement truck tires sold in 2016, one retread truck tire was sold; almost a one-to-one ratio, indicating high demand for the retread product.
BestDrive commercial tire centers offer total fleet tire management with Continental and General Tire brand products, as well as other supplemental tire brands. The dealerships equip fleets with new tires and ContiTread retread solutions as part of the ContiLifeCycle program, designed to lower costs and prolong the life of a Continental tire. BestDrive also provides innovative fleet technology such as ContiPressureCheck Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and Continental’s VDO Roadlog for ELD Mandate compliance. Services available at all BestDrive outlets include commercial tire mounting, dismounting, and balancing, 24-hour service, wheel refinishing, new and used wheels, air-up programs, commercial truck alignments and fleet checks. The stores also offer passenger and light truck tires, however, BestDrive is focused primarily on commercial truck service and OTR.
