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 Who We Are and How We Got Here

Wheels Etc is the end product of my life time in the tire industry.  I began selling tires in 1968 for Duddy’s in Phoenix, AZ.  I left Arizona with my new  bride in 1970 and worked for Allen Tire in Richmond, CA for about a year during which my 1st son was born.  Shortly after his birth I got fired and scrambled to find work at Empire Tire in Glendale, CA.  That job actually resulted in me making money.  When I got to Empire their annual sales were $4.3 million.  When I left in 1976 my own quota was $4.3 million which shows the growth they enjoyed.  I left Empco Industries to buy and sell original equipment take-off wheels in the name of R/V Specialties.  I changed the name to Wheels Etc in 1979 and had expanded my business with government surplus tires.  I rented several small properties until 1984 when I purchased land and a small retail store on Route 66 in Fontana, CA and spent 23 years there with 2.2 acres of my own property and at least another acre of my neighbours property full of tires from 4.00x8 to 29.5x29 earthmover tires and used steel wheels from 8” diameter to 24” diameter including passenger, pickup, medium and heavy duty truck wheels along with very rare forklift and material handling sizes.  I accumulated nearly 300,000 original wheel covers and hubcaps over that time and advertised used tires, wheels and hubcaps for most of the time I was in Fontana.  In 1989 the State of California got themselves in the tire business by passing legislation and adopting regulations regarding storage and hauling of “waste” tires that got confused with “reusable, retreadable, regroovable and repairable”   tires.

In 1995 I registered the name “Waste Tire Management” and find that I spend nearly half of my time processing “waste” tires I pick up from all sorts of generators.  Processing includes sorting those tires into usable or actual waste tires then by size and condition.  Very few waste tire processors have the experience and contacts I have developed over the past three decades.  I actually reuse in the form received about 25% of the tires I take in.  Not all of those are used as tires but without processing I am able to put many tires to use as other products.  After processing,  less than 20% of the original volume of the tires is buried at a monofil.  Various tires can be ground up for uses such as rubberize asphalt or a variety of industrial products like floor mats, sidewalks and the base of highway emergency cones.  Each process uses different sizes and types of tires.  For example Radial Truck tires make the best crumb rubber for use  in rubberized concrete asphalt,  earthmover tires have the highest content of natural rubber for more technical applications.  Passenger tires provide easier handling for burning to generate heat in the industrial processes like cement plants.  Tires that are severely damaged are not suitable for any of these processes and need to be further destroyed and buried for final disposition.

At the end of the line I accumulate used tires that retain value as tires and resell them to a number of tire dealers.  Truck tire service dealers, retreaders, small tire shops and fleets all buy wholesale by appointment only.  In addition, my relationship with 31 Products, Inc allows me to sell most tire shop supplies and repair materials at jobber prices.  I have a small inventory on hand and will sell larger patches by the each when needed by service trucks and small tire shops.  Look for a link to their product catalog on this website and call for prices  I hope to have a secure login system soon that will allow me to show prices online.


Wheels Etc.

aka:

Waste Tire Management

Address:

17521 Mesa Street
: Hesperia, CA 92345

Order:

800-75-TIRES

Phone:

909-350-8200
Fax: 760-949-1000

mailbox.gif (2669 bytes)Email: hubcap-kid@wheels-etc.com

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