A tire loading apparatus and method of packing tires that includes placing tires in a rack(100), compressing the tires, and assembling the rack are disclosed. The apparatus (600) includes one or more conveyors (615), scanners, and robots that load tires from a conveyor to a rack. A tire unloading apparatus (500) is also disclosed. The unloading apparatus includes a scissors lift (550) to raise and/or lower tire racks to an unloading platform. The unloading apparatus additionally includes one or more unloaders and conveyors. The sorting and unloading of tires is accomplished with one or more automated conveyors (615), scanners, and storage structures for reading information from incoming tires and using the tire information to sort and store the tires. A rack (100) to improve compression and support of tires during storage and shipment is also disclosed.