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10 Strictly Business

Bill Storms, owner of Johnny Wheels, pictured in the
company’s tire storage and retread facility in Corbin.

any people probably don’t tAKing the roAd
realize that while 51 percent
of tires on the highways are
Mnew, the other 49 percent are LESS TRavELLED
retreaded tires, which are reconditioned
or rebuilt older tires. this is especially
true for tires on tractor-trailers.
“If you look at all the major fleets,
out of 18 wheels on these big trucks, the Johnny Wheels owner talks about the founding of the business,
majority of them are retreads,” noted how it has adapted over the years, the importance of community
Johnny Wheels owner bill Storms. “it is
way cost efficient to them. You are talking involvement and philosophy behind running a close-knit operation
about $500 or $600 for a new tire versus
$125 - $155 for a retread.”
Johnny Wheels, which is located in
Whitley County, is responsible for re-
treading several thousand of those tires
annually as a major regional supplier of
those retreaded tires.
Storms estimate that between new
and retreaded tires, Johnny Wheels prob-
ably sells about 50,000 tires annually.

Simple beginnings
bill’s parents, tom and barbara
Storms, started the business in 1972.
initially, it was located at the junction of
Main Street and 18th Street where the
Cash Advance store is currently located.
“We started there and didn’t have
any bays, or anything like that. it has just The company employs workers at its retread facility
grown from there,” bill Storms said. and can manufacture about 100 “new” tires a day with
its current staffing and equipment.