Tire Distribution – A Comprehensive Guide for Manufacturers

Tire logistics involve more than just loading up a trailer and sending it out. As a tire manufacturer, you face specific challenges that don’t come up with boxed products or palletized freight.

The shape, handling, and logistics of tires bring in added complexity, especially when you need to meet strict retailer expectations and timelines. Whether you’re shipping Original Equipment (OE) or Replacement Equipment (RE), you need to plan ahead and choose the right processes, partners, and tools.

This guide walks through the steps and common issues you need to manage in tire logistics when delivering to retail centres across Canada.

Shipping Tires Has Unique Challenges

Tires create problems that are different from other products because of how they are shaped, handled, and tracked. You need to plan ahead for the physical and operational issues that come with tire freight.

• Shape and size: Tires are bulky and round, which means they don’t sit well on pallets and can’t be stacked like boxes. This also makes them more difficult to handle at terminals, leading to increased risk of non-conformities.
• Can’t ship with non-like products: You can’t load tires with unrelated goods like food or textiles because they can leave marks or carry odours.
• Additional tracking & tracing needs: In some cases, tires may be required to be traceable by serial number, and any product on a quarantine list can’t ship.
• Strict retailer specifications: Retailers have rules for how tires must arrive—this includes how they’re stacked, labelled, and separated by order.
• Seasonal rushes: During peak seasons, like October to November, it’s harder to secure delivery appointments, and delays affect customer sales.
• Returning unsold tires: You may need to collect unsold winter tires after the season and credit your retail partners, which adds another layer to your shipping plan.
• Disposal standards: For old or damaged tires that need to be disposed of, you’ll need to follow local disposal rules and provide proof that tires have been scrapped properly.

Each of these issues affects how you plan and manage tire shipments. In the next section, we’ll look at how to load tires and what transport options suit different order sizes.

Loading and Transporting Tires

Loading Tires for Transport (Laced or Racked)

The most common way to load tires for full truckload shipments is lacing, which involves carefully weaving tires together in a staggered pattern to maximize space. This method is common for FTL orders of RE tires.

Lacing allows you to fit more product into the truck, but it also takes more time to load and unload.

When shipping OE to plants or high-volume customers, you may need to use custom racks instead.

These are easier to load with a forklift and make handling faster, but they reduce the total number of tires that fit into the trailer. If you’re not sure which method to use, ask your customer if they have a preference or requirement—it may already be written into their inbound guidelines.

Shipping Tires FTL vs LTL

The difference between full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping will affect your costs, transit time, and how much control you have over the delivery process.

FTL is the better option when you’re shipping high volumes or delivering to a plant that relies on scheduled inventory. It allows you to control the entire trailer and avoid mixing your load with other products.

In contrast, LTL works better for smaller replacement orders but adds complexity. Tires shipped LTL often travel through multiple terminals, and each transfer increases the chance of delay or damage. LTL also brings extra accessorial charges for manual handling, wait times, and missed appointments. When you use LTL, you’ll need tighter tracking and stronger communication with your carrier to ensure tires arrive in the right condition.

Dealing with Bay Sizes when Receiving Tires

Bay size at the delivery site can limit which trailer or vehicle you can use, and this affects both efficiency and cost.

Most carriers use 53-foot trailers by default, but many retailers—especially smaller ones—can’t accept trailers of that size due to lack of dock space or difficult access. If you ship to a retail centre with tight bays or limited turnaround room, you may need to use a 26-foot trailer or a sprinter van.

That means breaking your load into smaller shipments and adjusting your timelines. Planning ahead for bay constraints can help you avoid redelivery fees, damaged tires, or missed appointments. Make sure to confirm delivery site specs before shipping so your carrier doesn’t show up with a trailer they can’t unload.

Delivering to the Retailer

Meeting Retailer Requirements

Retailers have specific rules for how they want to receive tire shipments, and missing those details can delay acceptance or cause a full rejection. You need to load tires in a way that matches how they receive inventory—this includes stacking method, order separation, and even the direction of tire stamps or labels.

Many retailers want shipments to arrive grouped by purchase order or SKU, and they expect clean handoffs with paperwork ready. If you’re sending mixed loads, make sure each order is separated clearly inside the trailer.

This helps their team process tires quickly and avoids confusion at the dock. Meeting these expectations helps maintain your retailer relationships and reduces follow-up work for both sides.

Shipping OE and RE

Original Equipment (OE) and Replacement Equipment (RE) shipments follow different patterns, and understanding both will help you plan better. OE shipments are usually simpler—they move in full truckloads from one origin to one destination and include just one type of tire. RE deliveries are more complex.

They can involve multiple SKUs, smaller orders, and several drop-off points. RE also means delivering to retail centres that may not have full receiving staff or flexible appointment times. OE delivery failures can stop a production line, so they come with higher consequences, but RE failures hurt your ability to keep retail stock on shelves.

When setting up a delivery program, plan for both models with different tools, routes, and partners if needed.

Seasonality of the Tire Industry

Tire shipments are not steady all year—there are major volume spikes in spring and fall, especially in Canada. Most of your retail customers will expect winter tires to arrive between July and September to be ready for sales in October and November.

That short window means everyone in the supply chain is under pressure at the same time. During peak seasons, it’s harder to get delivery appointments and you may face longer dwell times at the dock.

If your tires don’t arrive on time, it can affect your relationship with the retailer and it could also lead to lost sales if customers switch to different brands that are in stock. To avoid missed sales windows, you should plan inbound and outbound transportation months in advance and consider locking in appointments with key retailers.

Winter Tire Season

• March – Manufacturing of winter tires begins to ramp up.
• May: Winter tires begin to arrive in North America
• August: Manufacturers are reaching peak inventory of levels in preparation to begin shipping to retail customers.
• September: Retailers begin to place orders for winter tires.
• October – December: Peak consumer sales and tire installation period.
• February: Retailers begin sending unsold tires back to the manufacturers (if a return process was agreed upon), initiating reverse logistics for the manufacturers.

Summer Tire Season

• November: Manufacturing of summer tires begins to ramp up.
• January: Summer tires are imported and begin to arrive in North America
• Early March: Summer tire storage is peaking
• March – April: Retailers begin ordering tires to stores and consumers begin switching to all-season or summer tires.
• April – May: Peak changeover and sales period.
• June: Demand slows; retailers carry remaining stock through summer.

Reverse Logistics for Tires

Handling returns is part of the tire business, especially for unsold seasonal products. After the winter or summer tires season, retailers may be eligible to send tires back to the manufacturer (depending on if free return of unsold seasonal tires was part of the sales agreement) and expect you to process credits quickly. You’ll need a plan to receive, inspect, and restock—or scrap—those tires.

Each return should come with proper paperwork that matches it to the original invoice, so the process stays clean and traceable. If the tires are too old or damaged, you’ll have to move them into non-sellable stock and follow disposal procedures. You’re responsible for working with local tire stewardship programs and following the required scrapping procedures.

Planning your reverse logistics ahead of time helps avoid backlog and keeps your relationships with retailers strong.

Tire Warehousing

Tire Warehouses Have Specific Requirements

Tire warehouses need to meet certain standards that go beyond typical storage setups. You can’t store tires just anywhere—most insurance providers and local fire codes require ESFR (Early Suppression Fast Response) sprinkler systems, which many older buildings don’t have. You also need enough vertical clearance to stack racks safely.

For example, a clear height of 28 feet allows you to stack five racks high, each about five feet tall, with room to meet sprinkler clearance rules. If the ceiling is too high, and the sprinkler heads are too far from the tires, you may need a drop ceiling or other fire safety modifications.

Before moving tires into any space, confirm the building meets safety standards and can handle the volume and weight you plan to store.

Tracking & Tracing Tire Inventory

In some cases, you might need to track every tire by serial number, so that you know exactly which tire is entering and/or leaving the warehouse. .

Tire traceability starts as soon as the tire enters the warehouse. Each tire’s serial number must be recorded and cross-checked against blocklists or quarantine lists, so nothing defective or recalled makes it out the door. If there’s a quality issue later, traceability lets you find the trailer it shipped on and the employee who picked it.

This process applies to both OE and RE tires. If you don’t have this level of tracking built into your warehouse management system, you’ll run into problems with compliance/safety laws, managing reverse logistics, and ensuring you’re shipping the correct tires. .

Managing Warehouse Capacity During Peak Seasons

During peak seasons, warehouse capacity becomes a serious problem if you don’t plan ahead. Most winter tire shipments arrive between May and August so they’re ready for retail distribution by September.

That means your warehouse needs to be ready to receive and store high volumes long before consumers start buying. If you run out of space, you may need to lease overflow storage, move containers off docks quickly, or delay incoming loads—all of which raise costs and slow down operations. Planning for peak season storage includes securing enough space, staffing up early, and ensuring your warehouse systems are ready to handle more transactions.

Managing this load smoothly makes it easier to keep retailers stocked and avoid missed sales windows.

Scrapping Tires

You need a clear plan for how to handle old, damaged, or unsellable tires. These can come from returns, warehouse cleanups, or aged inventory that’s no longer fit for resale.

Each province in Canada has its own rules for tire disposal, usually managed through a local tire stewardship program. These programs require registration and may involve paperwork or receipts to confirm proper disposal.

Before sending tires to disposal, you often have to follow extra steps like cutting the sidewalls or removing serial numbers. This prevents the tires from being resold and ensures they are permanently removed from your inventory systems.

Manufacturers usually approve which serial numbers can be scrapped and will want confirmation that the tires have been processed correctly.

Disposal is also a liability issue—if a bad tire re-enters the market with your brand still on it, the damage can go beyond just one customer.

The disposal process works best when it’s part of your overall inventory and return system. If you’re already set up for tracking, quarantining, and processing returns, you can handle disposal without major delays.

Including this in your logistics plan helps close the loop. With clear processes in place, you can move product out of the system cleanly and stay in line with both customer expectations and government rules.

Tire Recycling and Stewardship Programs by Province:

• Alberta Recycling Management Authority – Stewardship Registry
• Tire Stewardship BC
• Tire Stewardship Manitoba – Retailer Policies and Procedures
• Multi-Materials Stewardship Board – Used Tire Suppliers (NL)
• Recycle NB – Tire Recycling Program
• Prince Edward Island – Environmental Tax on Tires
• Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority – Tire Program (Ontario)
  RECYC-QUÉBEC
• Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan – Retailer Info
• Yukon – Tire Recycling Program Details

PiVAL is a 3PL that Specializes in Tire Shipments Logistics

Shipping tires comes with a set of logistics challenges that many general carriers and 3PL providers aren’t equipped to manage. PiVAL specializes in tire distributionand offers solutions tailored to the way tires move through the supply chain. As a 3PL with experience in both OE and RE tire logistics, PiVAL helps manufacturers stay ahead of common roadblocks and deliver reliably to production plants and retail locations across Canada.

Avoid Accessorial and Hidden Costs – Tire freight often leads to unexpected charges when carriers treat tires like standard freight. PiVAL understands how tires are handled and priced, so you avoid unnecessary reclassification fees, liftgate charges, or handling surcharges.

Minimize Waiting Time at Delivery Sites – Unloading tires takes longer than unloading pallets. PiVAL accounts for this in its delivery planning, so drivers are scheduled with realistic windows and your customers aren’t left waiting—or rushing.

Handle Tires with the Right Labour and Equipment – Tires require more manual handling than boxed goods. PiVAL is equipped to deal with this, using trained teams and processes that protect the product and keep your delivery times on track.

Overcome Storage Issues During Peak Periods – When your warehouse runs out of space during busy seasons, PiVAL can provide overflow storage and integrated support. Their systems allow smooth transfer of inbound stock and scheduled outbound loads, preventing dock congestion.

Plan for Longer Unload Times – Retailers need time to receive and sort tire shipments. PiVAL plans deliveries with that in mind, giving staff enough time to unload properly and reducing friction at the point of delivery.

Secure Appointments During Peak Season – Booking delivery slots during high-demand months can be difficult. PiVAL is strong at securing customer appointments, thanks to long-standing relationships and experience with appointment-based retail delivery systems.

Match Vehicle Size to Delivery Location – Some retailers can’t receive 53-foot trailers due to space or dock size. PiVAL works around this by using smaller trucks or sprinter vans where needed, making sure deliveries aren’t rejected due to equipment mismatches.

Track and Trace Every Shipment – Tire shipments often need close tracking, especially when working with serialized products. PiVAL’s transportation management system (TMS) provides real-time visibility, while the customer portal allows you to monitor shipments and receive status updates throughout the journey.

If you’re shipping tires, you need a partner who knows the ins and outs of the process. PiVAL helps tire manufacturers ship smarter, avoid delays, and build strong retail relationships through better logistics planning and execution.

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