Recording the identification numbers from four tires by hand takes 2 minutes and 43 seconds, and the Tire Industry Association puts the error rate on manual entry at 10 to 15 percent. Inventory software fixes neither, because it only stores what someone typed in. Reading the tire is the part that has to change.
Tire shop inventory software tracks stock levels, pricing, rack location, and supplier ordering from records that somebody has to create first. Creating them is the part no demo covers. A truck backs in and forty tires come off it. Each one needs a size, a brand, a line, and a bin, plus a DOT code so the record is worth anything six months from now. The software is ready. Reading the tire is the work.
What does tire shop inventory software do?
Tire shop inventory software is a stock system organized around tire attributes: size, load and speed rating, brand, line, condition, quantity, and physical location. Most US shops buy it bundled with a point of sale and a repair order, so a tire moves from rack to invoice inside one record. Shopmonkey, Tekmetric, HITS, Tire Guru, Orderry, Garage360 and Used Tire Shop all sit in that category. They differ on supplier feeds, fitment data, multi-location visibility, and how much of the counter workflow they absorb.
The feature lists converge on four things: fitment lookup from a VIN or a license plate, live pricing from a connected distributor, rack and row location, and registration and recall handling at checkout. All four read from a record. Every record starts with somebody identifying a physical tire.
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How do tires get into inventory software?
Tires enter inventory software four ways. A supplier feed drops the record in electronically. Someone scans a barcode label. Someone reads the sidewall and types. Or someone photographs the sidewall and lets software read it. The first way covers new stock arriving from a distributor you are already connected to, which is the easy half of the problem.
Everything else lands on a person. Trade-ins. Customer tires going into seasonal storage. Mixed pallets from a wholesaler with no feed. Used stock, which is the entire inventory for a large part of the market. Take-offs that come back on a car three months later and have to be matched to the record you created in March.
Why barcode labels and RFID only get you part of the way
A barcode label reads in a fraction of a second and stops existing the moment the tire goes onto a wheel. NHTSA describes the mechanism plainly. The 1D barcode on a new tire is printed on a label stuck to the outside of the tire along the bead. Once the tire is installed on a wheel, that label is no longer visible. Some installers peel the labels off before mounting because they believe they cause air leaks.
Barcode capture is still the right tool for what it does well. Receiving against a purchase order, a physical count down an aisle, new stock on the rack: read the label and move on. It does nothing for a tire that has already been on a car.
RFID is further along than the trade press suggests and further off than it sounds. Three ISO standards cover it: ISO 20909 for the tags, ISO 20910 for how the data is coded, and ISO 20911 for how the tag attaches. The US Tire Manufacturers Association publishes a bulletin asking the industry to follow them, which tells you adoption across brands and lines is still uneven.
The physics is the other constraint. NHTSA measured read range on an embedded tag at under two feet. It also found embedded tags carry too little memory to hold a complete identification number without added cost. Dedicated readers ran $200 to upwards of $4,000 each in that study, against under $100 for an optical reader.
What is a tire identification number?
The tire identification number, or TIN, is the string of characters that follows the letters DOT on a tire sidewall. It is the closest thing a tire has to a permanent name. Under 49 CFR 574.5, it runs to 13 symbols in three groups:
- a three-symbol plant code identifying where the tire was built
- a six-symbol manufacturer code, which brands use to describe the tire or to identify the brand name owner
- a four-digit date code giving the week and year of manufacture
The DOT letters in front of it do a different job. They are the manufacturer’s certification that the tire meets the applicable federal safety standard. DOT and the TIN sit next to each other on the sidewall, and the part your record needs is everything after the letters.
Two details decide how useful the number is once it reaches your system.
It names a batch. The same plant, the same specification, and the same production week give thousands of tires an identical TIN. That is what makes it work for a recall, because recalls are announced against a batch. It also means a TIN cannot tell two identical tires on your rack apart. Your own stock number still does that job.
One sidewall carries less than the other. Under FMVSS 139 the full number goes on the intended outboard sidewall. The other side is allowed to carry a shortened version, and by definition that shortened version leaves out the date code. Read the wrong side of a mounted tire, and you capture an identifier with no age attached to it.
Shorter codes still turn up in the field. Manufacturers could keep a two-symbol plant code until April 2025, so tires built under the old scheme carry fewer characters. NHTSA moved everyone to three symbols for a plain reason: the supply of 900 two-symbol codes had run out. Used stock arriving today could have been built under either scheme, so anything reading these codes has to handle both lengths without a technician stopping to work out which one is in front of them.
What the DOT code gives you that a stock number cannot
The DOT code is molded into the rubber, so it is the only identifier on a tire that survives mounting, storage, resale and four winters in a customer’s garage. Three things follow from having it in the record. Three things follow from having it in the record.
Registration is a duty that sits on the seller. An independent dealer selling new tires has to do one of three things under 49 CFR 574.8:
- hand the buyer a paper registration form filled in with the tire numbers;
- return that form to the manufacturer within 30 days, at no charge to the buyer;
- or transmit the same information electronically within 30 days by secure means.
Electronic transmission is one option of three. All three depend on the code being right when it went into the system.
Recall lookup needs the whole number. The US Tire Manufacturers Association runs a search that resolves a tire identification number against recalls issued by its member companies. Your own stock number resolves against nothing.
Age becomes something you can sort by. No federal rule sets a maximum tire age. NHTSA notes that some vehicle and tire manufacturers recommend replacing tires that are six to 10 years old regardless of how much tread is left. A date on every record turns first-in, first-out from a policy on a wall into a column the software can order.
Reading tires with the phone you already have
A phone camera reads a DOT code, a tire size marking, and a barcode label, and writes all three into the record without anyone touching a keyboard. What makes it work is training. Optical character recognition built for sidewalls handles the conditions that defeat generic text recognition: black characters embossed on black rubber, worn markings, low contrast, and codes sitting upside down or at an angle because that is how the tire happens to be lying.
Anyline’s DOT and TIN capture runs up to 300% faster than manual DOT recording. Discount Tire, which operates almost 1,100 stores across the United States, reports 333% higher inspection efficiency since it deployed mobile tire inspections. On the barcode side, the same engine reads 33 barcodes per second across more than 40 symbologies. Everything is processed on the device with no server round trip, which is what makes it usable in a back lot with one bar of signal.
Hardware usually decides whether a project like this happens at all. Capture of this kind runs on phones and tablets the stores already carry. Anyline publishes the list: iPhone SE (3rd generation) and iPhone 11 and above; Samsung Galaxy A53, S10, S21 and S23; Google Pixel 5 and above; iPad Pro (3rd generation or better), iPad Mini (6th generation or better), and Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 or better. There is no second device to buy, issue, charge and replace.
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Putting tire capture inside the software you already run
Most shops do not want another app. They want the tire to appear in the system they already pay for, on the line item the technician already has open.
Two routes get there. A finished app gives a shop working capture on day one and exports it into the record. An SDK puts the same capture inside somebody else’s platform, so a technician taps a camera icon on a tire line and the size, the DOT code, and the barcode land in the fields underneath it.
Shopmonkey took the second route. Its shop management platform serves thousands of shops across the US and Canada. Chief Technology Officer Jeff Haynie said the integration of Anyline’s scanning technology “has significantly improved our software’s efficiency and accuracy,” and that automating data collection helps auto repair shops streamline their processes. Shopmonkey began with license plate, VIN, and barcode capture, with tire identification numbers and tire size following.
Cox Automotive applies the same pattern one step up the chain. Its RMS Automotive inventory system uses mobile VIN capture during inventory management and floor plan audits, and reports accuracy above 99%, comfortably ahead of manual entry.
A platform gains something more useful than a faster technician: a record that looks the same whether a twenty-year veteran or a second-week hire created it, with an image and a timestamp sitting behind it.
What to check before you commit to a tire scanner
Judge a capture tool on the tires that give you trouble, which means the worn ones, the filthy ones, and the ones already mounted on a car. Any system reads a clean new sidewall in good light.
| Ask the vendor | Why it matters | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Does it read embossed, worn and low-contrast sidewalls? | Sidewall markings are black on black, and the codes you need most are on the oldest tires | Reads embossed and low-contrast markings, and detects upside-down or angled codes on its own |
| Does it work with no connection? | Racks, back lots and storage units have no signal | Everything processed on the device, with no round trip to a server to return a result |
| Does it handle a batch? | Forty tires off a truck is one job | A batch mode built for high-volume runs |
| Does it need new hardware? | A dedicated reader is another device to buy, issue, charge and lose | Runs on the phones and tablets your stores already carry, with a published device list |
| Does it write into your system? | A second database is a second problem | An SDK or API that drops the values into the platform you already run |
| What else does it read? | Size, barcode, VIN and plate are the same trip round the car | One capture layer covering tire and vehicle identification |
| Where do the images go? | Customer vehicles and license plates are in shot | Processed on the device, with nothing stored on third-party servers |
| What happens when it is unsure? | Every system misses sometimes, and a silent wrong answer is worse than a flagged one | It tells the technician it is unsure, lets them correct it, and keeps the correction in the record |
That last row is the one people skip. Capture reads what is on the tire and puts it in a field. Deciding whether the tire stays on the car is the technician’s call, and a system that pretends otherwise is selling you a problem you will find later.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my phone as an inventory scanner?
Yes. A current smartphone camera reads 1D and 2D barcodes, and with optical character recognition it also reads printed and embossed text such as a tire’s DOT code or size marking. Anyline’s barcode engine reads 33 barcodes per second across more than 40 symbologies and runs entirely on the device, so aisles with no signal still work. The practical limit is the handset, so check the vendor’s supported device list against the oldest phone in your stores.
Where can I find the TIN on my tire?
The tire identification number sits on the sidewall directly after the letters DOT. Under 49 CFR 574.5 it runs to 13 symbols: a three-symbol plant code, a six-symbol manufacturer code, then four digits for the week and year of manufacture. The full number appears on the intended outboard sidewall. The other side may carry a shortened version, and that shortened version leaves out the date code, so read the outboard side whenever you need the age.
What is the best software for automotive inventory management?
There is no single answer, because the systems split by what you sell. Shops running repair orders alongside tire sales tend to look at Shopmonkey or Tekmetric. Used-tire specialists look at Used Tire Shop or Tire Shop Control. Wholesalers and distributors look at Tireweb or HITS. Compare them on supplier integrations, fitment data and rack location handling, then ask each vendor the question the feature list skips: how does a tire actually get into the record?
What is the best POS system for a tire shop?
It depends on how many locations you run and whether you sell repair labor as well as tires. Single-location retailers usually want tire quoting, fitment lookup and rack location on the same screen as the invoice. Multi-location and wholesale operations need stock visibility across sites and live supplier feeds. Published starting prices vary widely and most vendors quote per location, so run a real counter workflow during a trial before you sign anything.
Is there an inventory app that can use a barcode scanner?
Most inventory platforms accept barcode input, either from a paired hardware reader or from a phone camera. For tires the harder question is what happens when there is no barcode. New tires carry a label along the bead, and NHTSA notes that label is no longer visible once the tire is mounted, with some installers removing it beforehand. Used stock and customer tires rarely have one at all, which is why the molded DOT code carries the record instead.
How much does a barcode inventory system cost?
Readers drive most of it. NHTSA’s electronic tire identification study priced dedicated RFID readers at $200 to upwards of $4,000 each, against under $100 for a 2D barcode reader. A software approach removes that line completely by using the phones and tablets your stores already carry. Budget instead for integration work and licensing, and ask whether the fee scales by device, by location or by volume of reads.
