NASA to give go-ahead for retread procurement

WASHINGTON (Nov. 6)—The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is encouraging its transportation fleet managers to maximize procurement of retread tires for their forklift trucks, cranes, fire trucks and other special service vehicles, according to James William Hawkins Jr., NASA manager of transportation programs. Hawkins, who converted to retreads after a meeting with Harvey Brodsky of the Tire Industry Safety Council, said his agency won´t try to acquire retreaded passenger tires because "there´s no significant price differential" between retreaded and new passenger tires. Because of NASA´s decentralized operations around its 12 space centers, Hawkins´ approval of retread procurement isn´t a guarantee that procurement officials actually will buy retreads. "I can encourage them and send them the appropriate Web sites to educate them about retreads," he said. "But the actual procurement is up to them."