East Bay Tire Co - Business Focus
East Bay Tire Co is an 80-year-old fourth-generationcompanywith a team of more than 200 employees, serving customers every single day. It has locations in three states and serves customers across the western. . .
East Bay Tire Co is an 80-year-old fourth-generationcompanywith a team of more than 200 employees, serving customers every single day. It has locations in three states and serves customers across the western United States through its distribution network. “Our job is to support America’s infrastructure and keep essential industries moving,” saysJoseph J. Pehanick, CEO of East Bay Tire Co. East Bay Tire Co focuses on industries that keep the country moving — construction, mining, freight, agriculture, and material handling. Its secret weapon in pursuing that mission is its people. “We have the best team in the country,” Pehanick says proudly. “For years and years, we have seen sub-20% staff turnover. That is over 80% retention in an industry where the norm in North America is more like 50% to 80%. ”That retention is vital, as Pehanick is clear that East Bay Tire Co’s team is the most important aspect of the business. “If you have better retention, you don’t need to spend as much time recruiting for volume and can focus on recruiting for quality,” he says. “I stay closely involved in recruiting because culture matters. ”Retention, for Pehanick, is about the cultural fit, how well people fit East Bay Co’s core values. “Our three core values are true grit, ensure we are the best at the basics, and win together,” Pehanick says. “We want a team that is focused, that gets the job done and can concentrate on doing the basics well rather than getting distracted by new complications. ”To build that cultural fit, East Bay Tire Co uses coaching, provides its people with career development, and sends its people and their families to sporting events every year. “Instead of a Christmas party, our families are going to49ergames,Sharksgames, andArizona Cardinalsgames, where they can build memories with their families,” says Pehanick. “That’s very important to me. We are a family-orientated company and support family-orientated events. ”That same culture means every employee, whether permanent or temporary, gets given a Christmas tree by the company every year. Those who excel also receive awards, such as the silver belt buckle and a custom hard hat given out to the service technician of the year. “We recognise the best of the best,” says Pehanick. “If you constantly invest in your team, your team will invest in your customers. ”New BrandsAt the same time as being one company, united by its people and its mission, the business works across three widely recognised brands. Those include the East Bay Tire Co brand itself, which provides fleet service and commercial operations,Dawg Pound Tires, the company’s proprietary commercial tyre brand built specifically for fleets operating in construction, mining, and freight, and the company’s latest addition, “True Grit”, a rebranding of the company’s wholesale division serving independent tyre dealers. “It is allowing us to focus that division on the tyre dealers segment,” says Pehanick. “My great-grandfather started this company in 1946, but before that, he was aFirestonesales rep. Some of his customers from back then are our customers today. That means that when we move into new markets, it can leave people confused about just what East Bay Tire Co does, so we rebranded the wholesale division into its own brand solely for tyre dealers. ”When we talked with Pehanick he is excited to share with us that under the True Grit brand, the firm will be launching seven different associate dealer programs that cover the majority of the market in a way no other wholesale dealer has managed. “True Grit Wholesale is one of the largest agricultural tyre distributors in the western United States,” Pehanick tells us. “It is the tyre dealer that serves farming communities throughout the west, and we need it to be distinct from the rest of the business. ”But ultimately, whatever brand it is operating under, for Pehanick, it is the people that make the difference. “Our people and diversity allow us to serve our customers in an unbelievable fashion,” says Pehanick. “We want to be a fleet or dealer’s most valuable partner. That guides what we do every single day. ”The strange thing is that, while East Bay Tire Co has a history going back 80 years, it is also one of the youngest commercial dealers in the country. “If you talk to tyre dealers, you will hear a lot of the same stories,” Pehanick tells us. “They have been going for so many years, operating across this many generations, but we have only been present in thecommercial tyre businessfor 20 years now. ”Of course, East Bay Tire Co’s story spans generations as well. Pehanick’s great grandfather started East Bay Tire Co in the aftermath of World War II, sourcing used tyres and casings internationally in the post-war market. It was one of the first importers of Japanese tires into the United States. When demand increased for new tyres, East Bay Tire Co pivoted to meeting that demand by importing and distributing new tyres. Then, in the early 2000s, demand spiked for commercial services. “Some of our dealers, and one of their vendors, were looking for succession plans, so we developed a commercial division,” Pehanick recalls. “That is East Bay Tire Co today. We have divisions for equipment dealers, providing our own original equipment. Whatever the market conditions are, we adapt to them. ”Data DrivenIn the fleet side of the business, East Bay Tire Co is leading the industry in dealer data and tire-performance asset management. East Bay Tire Co has invested heavily in tyre performance analytics, building an internal team dedicated to tracking wear patterns, uptime, and fuel efficiency. The goal is to move beyond selling tyres and instead manage tyre performance as an operational asset by tracking metrics such as wear patterns, uptime, fuel efficiency, and cost-per-mile. “It manages tyre performance and gives our customers the proof in the pudding,” says Pehanick. Thisinvestment in datais truly transforming East Bay Tire Co’s offering. “On the fleet side, our investment in data will continue to grow, and nobody else in the USA is providing that,” Pehanick tells us. “We are not only improving tyre wear, but we are also improving up-time, fuel efficiencies, and collaborating on KPIs with fleets as a full-service asset management partner. ”It is all part of Pehanick’s vision to see East Bay Tire Co, in all its forms, as an MVP for fleets and dealers alike. “We have an exclusive and elite distribution model within the United States. We are chasing 1% market share, bringing value to the fleets that use Dawg Pound products,” says Pehanick. “We are launching a variety of new associate dealer programs to bring greater value to the dealer that is unlike any other wholesalers, covering the majority of the market, not just one brand here, one brand there. ”But for Pehanick, even these latest plans are just the next step in a much longer journey. “How we adapt through generations is tremendously important,” he tells us. “We have some of the longest tenure in the industry, the lowest turnover rate in the country, and that shows through in the quality we provide to our customers. ”