PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (Jan. 21, 2009)—The nation's most prominent spokesman for the retread tire industry is hailing a new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as vindicating both the high quality of retreaded tires and the retread industry's consistent position on the subject of road debris from truck tires.
“What can I say but that it made my day,” said Harvey Brodsky, managing director of the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau, about a survey performed for NHTSA by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. That survey, released a few days ago, demonstrated that new and retreaded medium truck tires have very similar failure rates and modes on U.S. highways.
“If anyone has any doubts that retreads don't perform like new tires, all they need to do is read this report,” Brodsky said. “We knew this would be the result of the survey from the day it began.”
That's not to say that some retreads won't come apart on the road, according to Brodsky. “But retreads today, made by reputable retreaders, actually have a lower adjustment rate than new tires.”
The challenge now, he added, will be for the retreading industry to ensure that the message about the high quality of retreads reaches both truck tire consumers and the motoring public.