Aug 9 2009
Background
Retreads and the Environment
Safety and Reliability of Retreads
Tire Maintenance
Background
If you still think retreads are not as good as virgin tires you are mistaken. Sorry to be so abrupt, but a fact is a fact. Today’s top quality retreads are being used by nearly every major trucking fleet in the world, as well as by both commercial and military airlines. School buses and municipal buses, fire engines and other emergency vehicles also routinely use retreads. This would never happen if retreads were not totally safe and dependable.
Retreads are also used by thousands of owner/operators, small package delivery services such as FED EX, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. There is even a U.S. Federal Executive Order (13149) mandating the use of retreads on many government vehicles.
Retreads and the Environment
How about the environment? We in the retread industry are amused by the green bandwagon, since we were a green industry long before the word became fashionable.
Thanks to retreading many hundreds of millions of gallons of oil are saved in North America every year, and millions of tires are kept out of our already overcrowded landfills.
If you are a trucker, whether you represent a fleet of one truck or one thousand, you need to know that every major truck tire manufacturer designs their truck tires for multiple lives. To not retread a truck tire after the original tread is worn is the same as tearing up dollar bills and throwing them out of the window as you drive down the highway.
Safety and Reliability of Retreads
OK, so we now know retreads are very environmentally friendly. But how about safety? How about reliability?
The safety record and the reliability of a top quality retread will equal that of the very best new tire, but at a far lower cost.
Thanks to new technology in top quality retread plants, retreaded tires have an adjustment record as low and often LOWER than comparable new tires.
There is really a lot to gain for your fleet if you begin using retreads. You will cut your tire costs at least in half while not sacrificing safety, performance or handling, and it doesn’t matter whether you drive on retreads in the dead of winter or on a blazing hot day. If you give your tires the care they deserve –whether they are retreads or virgin tires – they will perform beautifully for you. This means your tires MUST be properly maintained.
Tire Maintenance
What’s the trick to good tire maintenance? It’s simple, but it isn’t easy.
You MUST maintain the proper air pressure for your load and you need to check your tires with an accurate tire gauge at least once weekly. You also need to do a walk-around your truck daily looking for any bulges or any other anomalies on your tires. Be certain that any tire repairs are done by a reputable tire repair facility and the tires are repaired off the wheel. Always! Never settle for just a plug, because if you do you will then be driving a time bomb that may or may not go off. If it does, your tire may be responsible for a catastrophic accident, leading to the loss of lives. Don’t take a chance!
Next, be certain you are not driving an overloaded vehicle, because your tires may not be able to handle the excess weight, again leading to a failure.
Also, be certain that any tires on your vehicle in dual wheel positions are properly matched and also remember to keep your vehicle in proper alignment.
Finally, please pull your tires before they reach the legal tread depth limit. In fact, smart trucking fleets will pull their tires – whether new or retreads – long before they reach the legal limit, because they know their tires will be more retreadable if they do. Most tire problems happen when tires begin to reach their legal limit of remaining tread.
Source: Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau