TMC20: Cooper Tire Sees Strong Interest In Commercial Tire Lines, Introduces 3 New Tires Cooper Tire Co (NYSE: CTB ) is rapidly building up its commercial business line, which was first launched two years ago with five tire lines. Today, the line includes 11 tires and continues to grow its customer base, Gary Schroeder, director of global truck and bus tire business for the company, explained to FreightWaves. "That's pretty strong to bring up that much product in a very short period of time," Schroeder told FreightWaves during a meeting at the Technology Maintenance Council annual meeting in Atlanta on Tuesday. When Cooper launched the commercial line, it brought with it experience in trucking tires, having managed the Roadmaster brand popular with small fleets and owner-operators. But, it decided to build a program around a higher-quality tire that would attract fleets more concerned with technology, miles to removal, and overall lifecycle costs. Schroeder feels confident that Cooper, which introduced three new tires in its WORK Series at the show, is accomplishing this goal as it seeks to land original equipment status at major OEMs. "The [sales] people getting in the door [is important]," he said, "but at the end of the day, it's how the tire performs." If the growth of the company's national accounts program is an indication, the tire is performing.