Commercial Tire Year-in-Review with Yokohama Tire Corporation's
Rick Phillips    Phillips: We see the overall commercial tire
demand increasing slightly in 2013. There were a lot of
inventory corrections industry-wide in 2012 so we should see
more of a balance of supply and demand than there has been in
the past couple of years. Then in 2014-'15 we think there is a
good chance tire demand could pick up again…..significantly.
Hurricane Sandy has had an effect on the transportation
industry. We've seen estimates that it initially cost the
trucking industry $140 million a day in down time, and that 20
percent of the industry was not hauling freight due to the
aftermath of the storm. But long-term, the impact could be good
for the trucking industry because they're projecting around $100
billion to rebuild and trucking/transportation could be as much
as 10 to 12 percent of that total. That would be a big shot in
the arm for the trucking industry.  The commercial tire industry
is also obviously dependent on the t