Tire Prices Jump While Shortage Fears Wane

Above, good thing I had new tires before driving the rough road to Chaco Canyon. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For the past several months, stories abound over supply chain issues on just about everything we buy.

This also included tires for cars as well as RVs. 

According to an article in RV Travel, fears over tire shortages have waned, but prices for them have climbed. Luckily for me, I bought a new set of tires for my motorhome a year ago following my trip to Dallas/Fort Worth.

They start with:

This fall, rumors and speculations abounded about tires. The fear was that a tire shortage, spawned by supply chain issues, could create real problems for automotive and RV users. At the top of the year, it looks as if a tire shortage isn’t materializing, but watch as tire prices jump. It’s all happening right now.

Tire shortage?

The “tire shortage” fear was fomenting even before summer. “Tires are hard to come by right now; you’ve got higher prices and lower supplies,” Kevin Rohlwing, SVP of training for the Tire Industry Association (TIA), was quoted on fleetowner.com. “We can’t say it’s a shortage, but in certain sizes and certain styles, you’re not going to be able to get them.”

As time rolled on, fears seemed to quiet. But last August, the opening salvo was heard in the tire price-jumping game. On August 1, 2021, Yokohama inflated the price of their tires. The company said the increase was due to an “unprecedented increase in the cost of raw materials and the ongoing rise of operational costs necessitated the price adjustments.”

To read more, go here.