What Schrader International makes

Schrader International designs and manufactures tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and the pneumatic tire valves the company is named for. It operates as Schrader TPMS Solutions, the aftermarket and OEM TPMS brand of Sensata Technologies. The core product is direct TPMS: a valve-mounted sensor that reads tire pressure and temperature and reports it to the vehicle, a safety feature now mandated on passenger vehicles in the United States, the European Union, and China.

The aftermarket range is built around the EZ-sensor, a programmable universal sensor that combines 314.9, 315, and 433 MHz into a single SKU so a service shop can stock one part and cover most TPMS-equipped vehicles on the road. The lineup extends to the EZ-sensor GO, OE replacement sensors, motorcycle TPMS, heavy-duty TPMS, and TPMS receivers, plus service kits, retrofit kits, and the tools that program and diagnose them, including the ST-1 handheld tool and tool bundles. In 2025 the company added AirCheck BLE, a Bluetooth-only retrofit system that brings real-time tire-pressure readings to vehicles that never shipped with factory TPMS. Alongside the electronics, Schrader still produces the mechanical Schrader valve used on nearly every motor vehicle and bicycle in the world.

Schrader sells to two audiences: global vehicle manufacturers that build TPMS into new cars, and the aftermarket service and repair channel that replaces and services those sensors. Its customers span automotive, electric and connected vehicles, heavy and off-road vehicles, and motorcycles.

Ownership and history

Schrader traces its roots to 1844, when German immigrant August Schrader opened a workshop in Manhattan making fittings and valves for rubber goods, then diving equipment. By 1890 he and his son George had developed the Schrader pneumatic tire valve, the invention that still carries the company name and appears on essentially every motor vehicle and bicycle tire today. The company moved from valves into vehicle electronics over the following century, pioneering tire pressure monitoring and equipping the Chevrolet Corvette C5 with TPMS in 1997.

In 2014, Sensata Technologies acquired Schrader International, giving Sensata a leading position in the global TPMS market. Sensata is a NYSE-listed industrial technology company (ticker ST) with more than 100 years of operating history, over 21,000 employees, and operations in 11 countries, spanning automotive, heavy vehicle and off-road, industrial, and aerospace markets. Schrader today runs its US headquarters in Englewood, Colorado, a manufacturing plant in Altavista, Virginia, and its TPMS electronics engineering and manufacturing hub in Antrim, Northern Ireland, operated by Schrader Electronics.

Customers and market position

Schrader does not publish an individual OEM customer list, which is normal for a component supplier working on confidential vehicle programs. Two facts about its market position are on the public record.

Read together, those two data points describe a supplier whose sensors sit on a majority of the world's new-vehicle platforms and whose TPMS work reaches back to the first mass-market application of the technology. Hundreds of millions of Schrader TPMS sensors are in operation worldwide, per the company.

Sourcing evidence

Schrader's US import record matches what a tire-valve and TPMS-component maker should look like. The historic US importing entity, Schrader Bridgeport International, has 450 recorded ocean shipments from January 2015 through September 13, 2026, averaging about 1.9 TEU per shipment. The goods are valves, tire valves, valve caps and stems, brackets, and press-tooling components rather than finished consumer goods, the signature of a manufacturer bringing in parts to build and service product in the US. The most active bill-of-lading suppliers:

Seven shown of the recorded supplier set. By HS chapter, the mix leads with taps, cocks, and valves (HS 8481), followed by rubber and pneumatic tires (4011), automotive parts (8708), and plastics (39). Origin countries are concentrated in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong. ImportYeti's cost model, covering about a quarter of shipments, puts cumulative ocean-freight spend near $261,000 since 2015, an order-of-magnitude figure rather than an audited one. Several internal lanes also appear, including intercompany shipments labeled Schrader and Sensata Technologies de Mexico, consistent with a Sensata-owned brand moving product between affiliates. Recent monthly volume is light, with a decade of continuous activity behind it and July the busiest calendar month across the record.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements, including most US-Mexico flows, do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Schrader International make?

Schrader International makes tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and pneumatic tire valves under the Schrader TPMS Solutions brand. Its products include the programmable EZ-sensor, OE replacement sensors, motorcycle and heavy-duty TPMS, TPMS receivers, service and retrofit kits, programming tools, and the AirCheck BLE Bluetooth retrofit system, alongside the original mechanical Schrader tire valve.

Who owns Schrader International?

Schrader is a brand of Sensata Technologies, a NYSE-listed industrial technology company (ticker ST). Sensata acquired Schrader International in 2014, which gave it a leading position in the global TPMS market. Schrader had previously been owned by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.

Where is Schrader International headquartered?

Schrader International's US headquarters is at 9635 Maroon Circle, Suite 420, Englewood, Colorado. It operates a manufacturing plant in Altavista, Virginia, and its TPMS electronics engineering and manufacturing hub in Antrim, Northern Ireland, run by Schrader Electronics.

How old is Schrader?

Schrader was founded in 1844 by August Schrader in Manhattan, New York, making it more than 180 years old. The company developed its namesake pneumatic tire valve by 1890 and pioneered tire pressure monitoring, equipping the Chevrolet Corvette C5 with TPMS in 1997.

Who are Schrader's customers?

Schrader supplies global vehicle manufacturers and the automotive aftermarket. The company states its direct TPMS technology is used on more than 54% of global OEM vehicle platforms, with hundreds of millions of its sensors in operation worldwide. It does not publish an individual OEM customer list.

What is the Schrader EZ-sensor?

The EZ-sensor is Schrader's programmable universal TPMS sensor. It combines 314.9, 315, and 433 MHz into one part so a service shop can stock a single SKU and cover most TPMS-equipped vehicles, rather than carrying dozens of vehicle-specific sensors.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.