Getting ready for the winter tire rush
The first few weeks of the rush shape the season. Much of what makes them bearable is done in September, and none of it is complicated — it is just easy to leave until the phone is already ringing.
This is the plan a small shop can actually run. Where Treadstock does something about a step it says so; where it does not, it says nothing, because half of a good fall is a whiteboard and a phone.
Before the phone starts ringing
The work that decides what November feels like is done in September.
- Ring your stored sets firstThe customers whose tires are already on your rack are the easiest bookings of the year: you have their tires, you know what they drive, and they have to come to you. Get them into the calendar before the cold snap fills it with everybody else.In Treadstock: The season board lists who is coming up inside the next three weeks, soonest first, with the phone number on the row. It does not know your calendar — it tells you who to ring.
- Spread them across weeks, not daysEverybody wants the first cold Saturday. Offer a specific day and time rather than asking when suits them, start earlier than feels necessary, and give the early callers the slots you would otherwise lose to a quiet Tuesday.
- Keep the busiest days for walk-insThe first storm brings people who have never been in before, and a shop booked solid turns them away to somebody else. Leave a bay or a block of the day unbooked on the days you know are going to be busy. The ones who get in are next year’s stored sets.
- Count the room against the bookBefore the rush, not during it. A set that is not where the book says it is costs you a quarter of an hour you do not have, on the day you least have it.In Treadstock: Walk the racks scanning or typing what is on each shelf; anything that disagrees is listed.
The week of
Much of the time lost at a changeover goes before the car is on the hoist.
- Pull the sets the day beforeTake tomorrow’s bookings off the rack at the end of today and stage them by the bay. A tech walking to a container for every car is a hole in a changeover day, and it is one that gets worse the busier you are.In Treadstock: The season board’s due list is tomorrow’s pull list, and every set carries the shelf it is on, so whoever stages them does not need to ask.
- Have the shelf free before the tires come offThe set coming off the car needs somewhere to go. Deciding that while four tires sit on the floor is how a set ends up somewhere nobody wrote down.
- Label the racks, not just the setsWhoever is helping out in November is not the person who built the system in August. Shelves with names on them are readable by somebody on their first day.In Treadstock: A sheet of rack labels prints free, with no account.
While the tires are off the car
A few minutes a car, once a year, and it is the only time any of this is easy.
- Read the tread on all fourWrite the number down rather than a judgement. A number read in November is what makes the call in March a conversation instead of a sales pitch, and it is the same number whoever reads it.In Treadstock: Four boxes at the swap, in millimetres or 32nds, whichever your gauge shows. The set’s screen says the worst corner afterwards.
- Read the date code tooThe four numbers on the sidewall say the week and year the tire was built. It takes a few seconds per tire while the set is in front of you, and it is the one time in the year both sidewalls are reachable.In Treadstock: One box at intake, or four for a set whose tires were not all bought together. The age shows on the set’s screen afterwards, so whoever is at the counter in April has it without the tire.
- Quote the worn sets while the customer is standing thereA set that will not see another winter is a conversation to have now, with the tire in your hand and the number written down — not a phone call in March to somebody who has forgotten being here.In Treadstock: The sets whose tread is finished and whose customer has not been rung yet are a list on Find, worst first, with two buttons to record how the call went.
- Take a photo of anything you would not want blamed on youA curbed rim, a cracked sidewall, a wheel that was already marked. A quick photo now against an argument in April that you cannot win without it.
The questions shops ask about it
When should I start booking the fall changeover?
Earlier than feels necessary. The shops that get through November calmly are ringing their stored-set customers weeks before the first cold snap, when there is still a choice of days to offer. Once the weather turns, you are no longer booking — you are triaging.
Should I book every slot?
Some shops keep part of the busiest days open for walk-ins. The first storm brings people who have never been in, and a shop that is full sends them somewhere else. That is your call and it depends on how many bays you have.
What is worth writing down at the swap?
The tread on all four, the date code off the sidewall, the size, and a photo of any damage. All of it is easy with the set in your hands and hard any other time of the year.
When is the right time to talk about new tires?
While the customer is standing in front of you and the tire is in your hand. A reading taken in November and a call made in March is a call to somebody who does not remember the conversation.
How do I keep track of who still needs to come in?
The season board lists who is coming up inside the next three weeks, soonest first, and marks the ones already past due. It is the list you ring from; what is in your calendar stays in your calendar.
The rest of it
Three guides for the parts of this that are their own job.